Folio Bound VIEWS - Chinese Medicine

and right Kidney positions.

Diagnosis My diagnosis was dysmenorrhoea from mild stasis of Blood occurring
against a background of Liver and Kidney deficiency. The tiredness,
cold feeling, backache, poor memory and tongue and pulse all pointed
to Liver and Kidney deficiency. Besides this, she also suffered from
Spleen deficiency (loose stools) and Dampness in the Lower Burner
(vaginal itching and discharge).

Treatment principle This case is given here as an example of wrong principle of treatment
adopted. Since I came to the conclusion that the main aspect of the
condition was a Deficiency (of Liver, Kidneys and Spleen) with only a
mild and secondary Excess (stasis of Blood and Dampness in the Lower
Burner), I adopted the principle of tonifying and warming the Kidneys
and nourishing the Liver.

Herbal treatment I therefore chose a variation of the formula You Gui Wan Restoring the
Right [Kidney] Pill:

Shu Di Huang Radix Rehmanniae glutinosae praeparata 9 g

Shan Yao Radix Dioscoreae oppositae 6 g

Shan Zhu Yu Fructus Corni officinalis 3 g

Tu Si Zi Semen Cuscutae 6 g

Gou Qi Zi Fructus Lycii chinensis 6 g

Du Zhong Cortex Eucommiae ulmoidis 4 g

Dang Gui Radix Angelicae sinensis 6 g

Lu Jiao Jiao Colla Cornu Cervi 6 g

Bai Zhu Rhizoma Atractylodis macrocephalae 6 g

Fu Ling Sclerotium Poriae cocos 6 g

Xiang Fu Rhizoma Cyperi rotundi 4 g

Yi Mu Cao Herba Leonori heterophylli 4 g

Zhi Gan Cao Radix Glycyrrhizae uralensis praeparata 3 g

Explanation The first 8 herbs constitute a variation of You Gui Wan to tonify and
warm the Kidneys and nourish the Liver.

Bai Zhu and Fu Ling were added to tonify the Spleen.

Xiang Fu and Yi Mu Cao were added to move Qi and Blood and stop

pain.

After 10 packets of this decoction, she was no better at all. I therefore

reassessed the diagnosis and principle of treatment and came to the

conclusion that, although there was a pronounced deficiency, it would

be better to eliminate pathogenic factors first. I did this by giving her 10

packets of a decoction to resolve Dampness first, and then 10 packets of