The tongue presentation appropriate to this remedy is a sticky-white tongue coating.
Case History 25.1
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: Damp-Heat-Female, Age 27
A 27-year-old woman contracted what was diagnosed as viral meningitis one year before she
came for treatment. At the time of infection she had a high temperature, a severe headache,
vomiting, photophobia and neck pain and rigidity. Before this happened she had had vesicles on
her feet. These were itchy and filled with fluid and after some weeks they turned into pustules.
After the meningitis she felt extremely tired and experienced a feeling of heaviness and ache of
the limbs. She also felt hot and thirsty. On interrogation, she said she experienced a sticky taste
in her mouth and had an excessive vaginal discharge. She also had some abdominal pain and her
stools were always loose. Her memory and concentration were poor and she sweated at night
sometimes.
She was quite overweight, her skin was greasy and she spoke very slowly. Her pulse was
Slippery and her tongue-body colour was normal, while there was a very sticky-yellow coating
all over. The tongue body was Swollen.
She had been treated with acupuncture by another practitioner. Whilst some of the symptoms got
better, they both felt that she had not made sufficient improvement. Her practitioner then referred
her to me.
Diagnosis Most of her problems are due to remaining Damp-Heat after the febrile
disease (meningitis). The manifestations of Damp-Heat are tiredness,
heaviness and ache of the muscles, being overweight, greasy skin
(Dampness in the muscles), poor memory and concentration, sticky taste
(Dampness in the head), excessive vaginal discharge, pustules on feet
(Dampness in the Lower Burner), night sweating, Slippery pulse and
sticky tongue coating. Thirst, feeling of heat and the yellow colour of
the coating indicate Heat. In this case, Dampness was predominant in
relation to Heat. I felt that the main reason she had not improved much
was that she had been treated by tonification only. In fact, various signs
showed that her body condition was not that deficient: a normal
tongue-body colour without cracks and a Slippery pulse that was not
Weak. Since the condition was predominantly still an Excess one (being
characterized by the presence of Damp-Heat), the treatment should have
been aimed at expelling Dampness first.
Treatment principle The treatment was aimed at expelling Damp-Heat first with herbs only.
Herbal treatment The prescription used was a variation of Lian-Po Yin Coptis-Magnolia
Decoction, adapted with the addition of only three herbs to drain