Flea's maybe?

Hi, 

I have a question. I have a 10 yr old kitty that I keep on Advantage all year round. He had a play date with one of his kitty friends who came over about 6 weeks ago. A week later I am scratching like crazy. I go into Urgent care and doctor I saw said it was from shaving I forget the word he used folliculitis ? Another week goes by and I am itching like crazy still hadn't shaved and I go to my primary doc and he told me it wasn't follicultis and that its maybe eczema and or could be bug bite. I finally get into derm doc 2 weeks later and I asked her is the rashes I have bug related she said no it was definitely eczema and gave me a steriod cream. Another week goes by and the itching is intense I go back to derm doctor and ask again do these look like flea bites and or maybe bed bugs. She said no. This time she treats me for scabies I do the treatment and the itching is still relentless. In this who time I have not seen anything that looks like a flea and my cat is not itching. In desperation I called a pest control company to my apt over the weekend. He looked no sign of bed bugs and no fleas. But he texts me back maybe an hour later to say he has two bites on his ankle and its probably fleas. I don't know to believe him or not as many people have not been straight with me thus far plus I had told him all of what I been through so don't know if he was trying to create fear by saying it could be fleas. Fast forward today I had the pest control my apt people use come out. Same thing no signs or bed bugs and didn't see any fleas. He put down some sticky traps on floor and will be back Friday to spray?  The thing I don't understand is with all the itching going on wouldn't i see just one flea?? I have a very small apt 400sq ft. My kitty i combed through him many times and nothing but he has the advantage on.  

It sounds to me like you're allergic to something.  That something could be flea bites but it is odd that so many professionals have weighed in against that, and you haven't seen any.  Have you changed anything with regards to medications, food, cleaners, etc?  It might be worth seeing an allergist at this point.  Good luck - constant itching is a horrible, horrible experience. (I've been there.)  

Ooh, I'm sorry! Fortunately I've never had fleas get to that point so I can't speak from experience. It sounds like if fleas did get into your apartment, the Advantage is working and they aren't living on your cat, but they are living in your apartment. Treating just the animal won't kill the fleas not on the animal unfortunately. 

Honestly, in the past I've had a really hard time getting dermatologists to diagnose something that's a little out of the ordinary. (They always say eczema! Turns out I'm allergic to lotion...and they kept prescribing lotion of course.) Your pest guy probably has more experience with fleas than they do, and he told you at first he didn't think you had fleas so he's telling you what he honestly thinks. I'd listen to him.

Well over 24hrs with traps in place and nothing in them. I am onto a new idea of whats causing the itch and it sort of makes since since I have seen no fleas in my apt, on my kitty or me.  Few months ago the apt below me had a issue with black mold. The maintenance men painted over it never removed the mold properly so my theory is this since this is in the area I seem to do the most itching maybe the mold has spread up the wall and into the ceiling and that would be my floor where I am itching the most. I talked to a friend earlier who had water damage and mold in her home the exposure to the mold caused her eczema to get worse. So now I am wondering if it is mold related ??   

Yikes.  Black mold!     That stuff causes all kinds of nasty symptoms.  Can you get someone in there to check it out and, if it's there, actually do more than paint over it?