Posted by Hombre on May 24, 2010, at 21:17:09
In reply to Re: Chinese Medicine: Formulas for Energy, posted by Lao Tzu on May 24, 2010, at 10:24:54
Hi Lao Tzu,
General deficiency of the Spleen may have the following symptoms:
decreased appetite; sallow complexion; fatigue; shallow breathing or shortness of breath; little desire to talk; epigastric and/or abdominal bloating (especially after eating); loose or unformed bowel movements. Secondary symptoms may include weak or emaciated extremities; edematous extremities; inhibited urination; decreased amount of (pale colored) menstrual flow. The tongue typically manifests with a pale body, toothmarks, and a thin white coating; the pulse tends to be weak and slow.
Representative Herbs: codonopsis (dangshen), astragalus (huangqi), atractylodes (baizhu), hoelen (fuling), dioscorea (shanyao), lotus seed (lianzi), coix (yiyiren), dolichos (biandou), jujube (dazao); citrus (chenpi), shen-chu (shenqu).
Representative Formulas: Four Major Herbs Combination (Si Junzi Tang); Six Major Herbs Combination (Liu Junzi Tang).
If there are some cold symptoms as well, such as abdominal pain that improves with the application of heat and pressure; cold extremities; poor appetite; abdominal bloating; loose or unformed stools, the following herbs and formulas may help:
Representative Herbs: dry ginger (ganjiang), aconite (fuzi), evodia (wuzhuyu), zanthoxylum (chuanjiao), clove (dingxiang), atractylodes (baizhu), codonopsis (dangshen).
Representative Formulas: Ginseng and Ginger Combination (Lizhong Tang), Fill the Spleen Formula; Magnolia and Atractylodes Combination (Shipi Yin).
You can look up individual herbs (by latin, common or Chinese name) here:
http://www.chinesenaturalherbs.com/bulkherbs.html
The individual herb pages also list some common conditions helped by each herb.
I think codonopsis (a milder substitute for ginseng), atractylodes, astragalus, jujube (Chinese red date), citrus/tangerine peel (chen pi), clove, and hoelen all tend to be used to eliminate dampness and shore up the overall digestive function. They tend to be heating and drying, so if you already tend to be dry, have constipation, feel hot, we may need to go another route. I hope that helps. The formula I'm taking right now, Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan, is a general tonic and it might not hurt to try that. Gui Pi Wan is purported to calm the heart and help with insomnia and anxiety.
I used to smoke for a long time and just recently quit. If I didn't feel ill from smoking I'd probably still do it, so I know how that goes. I found out that smoking induces the cytochrome CYP1A2 enzyme, which may reduce my blood levels of the mirtazapine (remeron) I take, so I decided I couldn't do it anymore.
poster:Hombre
thread:948550
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20100516/msgs/948683.html