6 years. All her symptoms started after contracting influenza during her second pregnancy.
During this acute infection she felt completely exhausted and could hardly walk. She never
recovered after this infection and continued to feel exhausted, shivery and experiencing a general
flu-like feeling. Her muscles ached and felt very quickly fatigued after the slightest exercise. Her
head felt muzzy and her short-term memory was poor. Four years after the initial infection she
contracted a new one which severely aggravated her symptoms. She had a pain in the spine and
occiput, a numbness of her face, headaches, sore eyes, breathlessness, palpitations, a weakness
of the right arm, diarrhoea, and weak legs. She felt shivery and sweated. This condition lasted for
5 months during which time she was in bed most of the time. At the time of her consultation
these symptoms had disappeared but she still felt exhausted and shivery and had a flu-like
feeling most of the time. The ache in the muscles had subsided while the fatigue remained. Her
pulse was extremely Fine, almost Minute and Weak, being almost non-existent on the right Front
position (Lungs). Her tongue was Pale, was slightly Swollen and had a midline (Stomach) crack.
Diagnosis The present condition is very clearly predominantly deficient. There is a
very obvious deficiency of Lungs and Spleen. The initial symptoms
showed some Dampness, evidenced by the ache in the muscles. The
aggravation 4 years later probably led to the exhaustion of Qi.
Treatment principle The treatment principle in this case is simply to tonify Qi of the Lungs
and Spleen.
Acupuncture The acupuncture treatment consisted in reinforcing LU-9 Taiyuan,
ST-36 Zusanli, SP-6 Sanyinjiao, L.I.-10 Shousanli, BL-20 Pishu,
BL-13 Feishu, Du-12 Shenzhu, BL-21 Weishu and Du-20 Baihui.
Herbal treatment The herbal prescription used was a simple variation of Bu Zhong Yi Qi
Tang Tonifying the Centre and Benefiting Qi Decoction:
Huang Qi Radix Astragali membranacei 15 g
Bai Zhu Rhizoma Atractylodis macrocephalae 6 g
Dang Shen Radix Codonopsis pilosulae 9 g
Mai Men Dong Tuber Ophiopogonis japonici 3 g
Chai Hu Radix Bupleuri 3 gAt various times during the treatment (over 2 years) she needed to have
prescriptions to clear Heat during acute exacerbations of her condition.
Sometimes she had the Xiao Chai Hu Tang Small Bupleurum Decoction
and at other times she had Xie Bai Tang Draining Whiteness Decoction.
She achieved an almost complete recovery after 2 years.Yin Deficiency
The clinical manifestations vary according to the organ involved. The three organs which most
frequently suffer from Yin deficiency in ME are the Lungs, Stomach and Kidneys. Combinations
of two or even all three of these are common.