The Great Vaseline™ Conspiracy of '06

[NightHawkeye]

I'm confused: what on earth do Lee Raymond, Dick Cheney, caribou, Santa Claus, Bill O'Rielly, middle eastern shieks, the environmental movement, and vaseline have to do with a discussion on CPAP and Nasal Pillows?

Yeah, but where's Rush on this?

[Guest]

If ever a thread needed to die, or at least be put out of its misery, this is it...

m

Alright then. But once more before we go:

Dear readers, do NOT be lulled into a false sense of security. For we can see, first hand,
the ill-effects of excessive vaseline inhalation:

John Doe. Age 22:





John Doe. Age 23:

[Rush Limbaugh]

Who's posting pictures of my little brother at the age of 22 and 23?

[Perchancetodream]

With regard to adults, Ikeda (1937) summarized 106 cases from the
literature, Graef (1939) 22 cases, Bishop (1940) 136 cases, Freiman et
al. (1940) 58 cases, and Moel & Taylor (1943) 20 cases. They concluded
that lipid pneumonia, especially the diffuse chronic form, occurs more
frequently in adults than is generally believed. Liquid paraffin is by
far the most important etiological agent in the adult. Debilitated
states, dysphagia and impaired cough reflexes, because of neurological
or other disorders, are important predisposing factors. The authors
stress, however, that mineral oil is widely used without evident harm,
even in elderly persons. Wherever there is a real indication for this
type of medication, they see no reason to discontinue it. Extensive
use, especially self-medicated, of liquid paraffin intranasally or via
the oral route by debilitated or dysphagic patients should, however,
be discouraged (Bishop, 1940; Freiman et al., 1940)...

From the literature, it is apparent that with the recognition of
the causal factors and the change from oil-based to water-based
nose-drops, the incidence of the type of lipid pneumonia just
described has drastically decreased, since the end of the forties.

So here's the thing. Back when there was widespread use of this stuff, there was a significantly increased incidence of lipid pneumonia. It dropped off because people became aware of the dangers. But if you now have 10,000 sleeping nasal pillow patients use petroleum jelly for say, 3600 nights apiece over a ten-year period... I mean y'know? It's gonna happen.

While all this is great fun, even if everybody greasing up their pillows is thinking, "AHA, SAG is a rabble-rousing, hoaxifying, conspiring (oops, almost forgot annoying little) whatever", if they choose to use petroleum-based products, I'll bet they're at least being a whole lot more careful now than they were a week ago.

BTW, there's a high incidence of STD in caribou. So use protection. But if you use the pre-lubricated variety, then ...

It's been real.
SAG

According to the Health and Human Services Website: http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cg ... =TblBrands
the ingredient in Vaseline Petroleum Jelly is white mineral oil. There is no paraffin in the Vaseline. Although it the concern is the high incidence of STD in caribou, perhaps some hot paraffin would help...

[roster]

[DreamStalker]

That's good ... we seem to be making some progress on catching up with old posts.

[Perchancetodream]

That's good ... we seem to be making some progress on catching up with old posts.

I'm so embarrassed.

I didn't realize how old this thread was when I responded. But it was suggested elsewhere on this forum yesterday that Vaseline was inappropriate for use by CPAPers and then this thread was at the top of the forum this morning.

Sorry,
Susan

[SleepGuy]

Susan, this thread is a CLASSIC and deserves to be bumped

It's kind of like watching Gilda Radner and John Belushi on a late night SNL rerun.

So no worries!

[DreamStalker]

That's good ... we seem to be making some progress on catching up with old posts.

I'm so embarrassed.

I didn't realize how old this thread was when I responded. But it was suggested elsewhere on this forum yesterday that Vaseline was inappropriate for use by CPAPers and then this thread was at the top of the forum this morning.

Sorry,
Susan

No biggie I was just having a brief chuckle at your expense ... the US congress seems to be having a lot at my expense lately

[roster]

That's good ... we seem to be making some progress on catching up with old posts.

I'm so embarrassed.

I didn't realize how old this thread was when I responded. But it was suggested elsewhere on this forum yesterday that Vaseline was inappropriate for use by CPAPers and then this thread was at the top of the forum this morning.

Sorry,
Susan

It came up because Amigo returned to the forum and he is the one that kicked this classic debate off. I am glad you bumped it (I did not want to take the blame for restarting it. )

[Ric]

Whoever started this should be TRACKED DOWN, CAPTURED, and TORMENTED night and day by the Dallas Cheerleaders:



(unfortunately, looks like it was Nighthawkeye started this)

[MrSandman]

Ha - Rooster is right. I was searching old vaseline threads because of suggestion by him in a newer thread and I found this one and voted which bumped it to the top. LMAO...

He was right- this is some funny stuff - Oh and nice picture - good place to post a pile of democratic presidential promises...

Ready for my torment now

[SleepGuy]

Vaseline and the Nevada State Atheletic Commission:

http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/9 ... -St-Pierre

[StillAnotherGuest]

Omigod, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am to have perpetuated this whole thing!

Now when you walk into the doctor's office with pulmonary symptoms, every Tom, Dick and Shivani is interrogating the poor patients about nasal use of petroleum jelly:

You Did Use Vaseline, Didn't You?

On the other hand, if he had just admitted to it in the first place, they wouldn't have had to take his lung apart.

SAG

[StillAnotherGuest]

And I know why that Guy is here, he certainly has vested interests.

Anyway...

I have been in discussion with an Integrative Medicine Health Care Professional who is Certified in Aromatherapy. I asked them if they considered the PurSleep System as discussed on this board represented a safe route of administration and dosage approach to aromatherapy. They in turn posed the question to their mentors and contacts. The answer that I received was that it was not a recommended nor appropriate approach to aromatherapy. However, at least some of that reply is simply based on the lack of current evidence, pro- or con-, of the long term use of inhalational oils.

While it has been noted before that many of these essential oils have been used for years in alternative medicine, it should also be noted that the route of administration and duration of exposure of the PurSleep system has not been examined carefully for the possibility of untoward side effects. For instance, in the oft-quoted Goel study on the effect of inhaled lavender on sleep, study participants only had 8 minutes of contact time. Should Goel then be used to justify used EO inhalation of 400+ minutes?

At this point, given that there are a number of members who may be considered "long-term" users (12 to 18 months) of this product representing "prolonged exposure", I would like to know if anyone has pre- and post-EO exposure data on the following.

1. Change in oximetry trend (mean reading during night, spot check during day). Baseline and follow-ups may be obtained from original PSGs, serial PSGs and/or self-monitoring.
2. Change in screening spirometry values.
3. Change in complete Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT) values, particularly diffusion.
4. Symptomatic change in pulmonary function, as in decreased ability of aerobic exercise or increased shortness of breath on exertion.
5. Change in Liver Function Testing (LFT) results.
6. Unexplained significant illness or death of a pet that may have been exposed to essential oils, especially Liver Failure in Cats because no matter what that boy says about safety it ain't:

The Lavender Cat

SAG