Cinnamon Twig, Peony and Anemarrhena Decoction
The Xiaocai pattern reflects the person's character; the overall pulse is weak and feeble, and this is true for both the left and right hands.
A person who is thin and weak, with a weak pulse, is said to have a pulse disorder.
This means that when a person is sick, their pulse also indicates illness; such a unified pulse suggests that the overall condition is very serious.
"Let me see your tongue!" Su Ziyang gestured for Xiaocai to stick out her tongue.
Ah~
Su Ziyang examined it carefully and found that the tongue coating was white and smooth overall, with nothing particularly unusual.
"Let's have some herbal medicine! Okay?" Su Ziyang asked.
"Huh!?" Xiaocai exclaimed in surprise, then said, "Isn't it supposed to be a massage?"
Su Ziyang was taken aback. It seemed he had guessed correctly. Xiaocai really thought her illness could be cured with massage. Thinking of this, Su Ziyang laughed and said, "Your illness isn't that simple. If it could be cured with just a few massages, you would have been cured long ago, and I wouldn't be here to treat you. Rheumatoid arthritis is an internal problem; it can't be completely resolved with simple acupuncture and massage. Even if it has some effect, it's only temporary relief!"
"Ah! I see." Xiaocai hesitated for a moment, then nodded resolutely. "Okay, then I'll take the medicine!"
"OK!"
After examining the patient's body and taking their pulse, Su Ziyang had already formulated a prescription in mind, so he picked up a pen and began to write it down on a piece of paper:
20g of cinnamon twigs
15g of peony
10g of licorice
10g of ephedra
25g of Atractylodes macrocephala
Anemarrhena asphodeloides 20g
20g of windproof
Prepared aconite root 15g
Cut 8 slices of ginger into pieces about the thickness of a coin.
7 pay
"Take this prescription and go get the medicine. Don't forget to add ginger, the kind we use for stir-frying. Tell them to wrap the aconite separately. When you get home, boil the aconite first, and after it boils, boil it for another half hour before adding the other medicines! Please remember this very well, don't make a mistake!"
Aconite is poisonous, Su Ziyang repeatedly warned them several times, and reminded Xiaoyun and Xiaocai again before letting them leave.
"Son, what medicine did you prescribe for Xiaocai?" Su Ziyang's mother asked Su Ziyang curiously as the two left.
"Uh~ You wouldn't really understand even if I told you. Why are you asking this?" Su Ziyang looked at his mother's curious expression with a bit of helplessness.
"You silly child. You've already explained it to me, and I understand." Su Ziyang's mother rolled her eyes at Su Ziyang. "What I mean is, she's had this illness for many years. Don't make it worse with treatment. She got this disease right after she got married, and because of it, the couple hasn't had any children! I haven't seen her for the past two years, and I never expected her to be like this. She can't even straighten her arm!"
"Mom, what are you saying? Even if the medicine I prescribed doesn't cure the patient, it can't possibly make them worse!" Su Ziyang was speechless at his mother's excessive concern.
"Alright, alright, you're the professional, okay? I'm not saying anything more, I'm going to cook!" Seeing Su Ziyang 'Su Ziyang mother went straight to the kitchen.
Mom went to the kitchen, Su Ziyang took out his notebook from his schoolbag and started jotting down notes and drawings.
This notebook was prepared by Su Ziyang after he came to the Daoist Medicine Clinic and met Mr. Mengfei. Su Ziyang named this notebook the Daoist Medicine Clinic Notes, which is to record the strange illnesses he encountered after coming to the Daoist Medicine Clinic.
This was Su Ziyang's first time treating rheumatoid arthritis, so he quickly took notes while his mind was clear.
Xiaocai, female, 35 years old
The pulse is deep, weak, and feeble; the tongue coating is white.
He suffered from joint deformities and pain throughout his body for twelve years, and had limited mobility for two years.
Su Ziyang first wrote down Xiaocai's basic information in his notebook, then wrote down the prescription, and began to analyze his understanding of Cinnamon Twig, Peony Root and Anemarrhena Decoction.
Cinnamon Twig, Peony Root and Anemarrhena Decoction comes from the fifth chapter of the first volume of "Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet), which discusses stroke, arthralgia, pulse, symptoms, and treatment.
The original text reads, "For pain in all joints, emaciation, swollen feet as if they have fallen off, dizziness, shortness of breath, and a feeling of nausea, Cinnamon Twig, Peony Root and Anemarrhena Decoction is the main treatment."
Guei refers to a thin body.
For symptoms such as joint pain, emaciation, swollen feet, dizziness, shortness of breath, and nausea, Cinnamon Twig, Peony Root and Anemarrhena Decoction is effective.
According to the description in this article, some doctors sometimes use it to treat gout, because gout often involves joint pain and is consistent with the symptom of swollen feet, since gout usually starts with swelling and pain in the big toe.
This is a prescription made by Zhongjing medical sage, for arthralgia with a long course of illness, because such patients often become very thin and weak over time, just like Xiaocai.
Cinnamon twig and peony root are two essential herbs for harmonizing the body's Yin and Yang, and the body's defensive and nutritive Qi. Cinnamon twig warms Yang and relieves muscle tension, while peony root is sour and sweet and astringent. The two work together perfectly, one dispersing and the other astringent.
Su Ziyang meticulously copied down the efficacy of Atractylodes macrocephala, Saposhnikovia divaricata, and Anemarrhena asphodeloides recorded in the Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica and listed them in his notebook:
Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia divaricata): Sweet in taste, warm in nature. It is used to treat strong winds, dizziness and headache, aversion to wind, wind-evil, blindness, wind affecting the whole body, joint pain and numbness, and restlessness. Long-term use can lighten the body.
Atractylodes macrocephala: Bitter in taste, warm in nature. It is used to treat wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, dead muscle, spasms, jaundice, stop sweating, clear heat, and aid digestion. It can be made into a decoction. Long-term use can lighten the body, prolong life, and reduce hunger.
Anemarrhena asphodeloides: Bitter in taste, cold in nature. It is used to treat thirst, internal heat, eliminate pathogenic factors, edema of limbs, promote urination, replenish deficiencies, and invigorate qi.
The main function of Atractylodes macrocephala is to treat wind-cold-dampness arthralgia; Saposhnikovia divaricata is mainly used to treat wind-induced pain and numbness in the joints and irritability; while Anemarrhena asphodeloides is mainly used to reduce swelling. However, Xiaocai's main symptom was not swelling, but pain. In order to ensure the integrity of the prescription, Su Ziyang did not make any additions or subtractions to the prescription, but copied the original prescription to avoid disrupting the overall combination of the prescription.
Although Su Ziyang devised a prescription to treat Erhei's insomnia, he felt it was safer to treat the disease using the original prescription and dosage from Zhongjing.
Because I have made progress this year, but I still haven't reached the level of fully understanding Zhongjing's thinking, Mr. Mengfei gave Su Ziyang the same advice: first use the original prescription and dosage, and then make some appropriate additions and subtractions when you have mastered and truly understood the original meaning of Zhongjing Zhongjing's prescription.
Su Ziyang thought for a while, then continued writing in his notebook.
Ephedra promotes sweating, opens the pores, relieves numbness, and dispels wind; ginger and licorice warm the yang and strengthen the spleen and stomach. In the worldview of traditional Chinese medicine, the spleen governs the muscles, and the stomach can receive food and water. When both are functioning healthily, the muscles will naturally be full and there will be no muscle atrophy or weight loss.
The Inner Canon mentions that wind, cold, and dampness combine to cause Bi syndrome. Aconite promotes Yang, dries dampness, and dispels cold. In addition, aconite can help the true Yang in the kidneys, which are the foundation of innate essence. When the innate true Yang is sufficient, diseases in the bones can naturally dissipate.
Su Ziyang finished writing the analysis of the prescription and put down his pen.
Looking at the words he had written, and reviewing the several representative diseases he had previously recorded, such as dream-related illness, Ghost Strike and Flying Corpse Disease, and Human-Face Sore, he closed the notebook with satisfaction.