Morning Tiredness

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If a person wakes up tired, tends to not be a morning person, this often is

a symptom of Stomach Qi Deficiency. Other symptoms include weak limbs,

loose stools, and an uncomfortable feeling in the epigastrium (middle of the

upper abdomen - area beneath your rib cage where your stomach is located).

Because this is a Deficiency condition, the pain will be more a feeling of

vague discomfort than the obvious discomfort or pain of Excess conditions.

When Stomach Qi Deficiency is present, you also have the problem of Stomach

Qi not descending. Remember, Stomach Qi is supposed to flow downward.

Deficient Stomach Qi and Liver Invading Stomach are two of the possible

Roots that can cause Stomach Qi to not flow downward.

 

When Stomach Qi is Deficient, Spleen Qi frequently will be Deficient as well

because of the close relationship between the two. (They're coupled

systems, the Stomach is Yang Earth, and the Spleen is Yin Earth.) The loose

stools, lack of appetite, lack of taste, and pale tongue that you frequently

see in cases of Stomach Qi Deficiency are coming mainly from the Spleen also

being Qi Deficient.

 

When using Qi tonic herbs, I personally would want one that specifically

targets the Stomach meridian/ system. When you read about herbs in a

Materia Medica, one section should list the meridians/ systems targeted by

the herb. Most Qi tonics target the Spleen and the Lungs because those are

the systems most responsible for Qi. (The Spleen extracts the Grain Qi from

food and carries it to the Lungs where it mixes with the Air Qi that the

Lungs have extracted from air.) There are some Qi tonics that specifically

target the Stomach in addition to the Spleen and/or Lungs.

 

Maciocia recommends Stomach 36 as this is the main point to tonify Stomach

Qi. St 36 is one of those points that I recommend beginners memorize

because it does get used in so many conditions. In Acupressure's Potent

Points, Gach recommends it for fatigue and for nausea as well as some other

things.

 

Maciocia also recommends Conception Vessel 12 to tonify the Stomach and

Spleen Qi, Bladder 21 to tonify Stomach Qi (and also is especially good in

cases of extreme tiredness), and Conception Vessel 6 (Sea of Energy) to

tonify Qi in general (and especially good in cases of chronic Stomach Qi

Deficiency). Gach recommends CV 6 for tiredness (and other things). In

addition, see the posts in the archieves on Hara breathing.

 

Maciocia gives two main etiologies of Stomach Qi Deficiency. He says the

most common cause of Stomach Qi Deficieny is dietary. The person does not

get enough protein and nourishment. In some cases, the person may be on too

strict of a diet.

 

The second most common etiology for Stomach Qi Deficiency is prolonged

illness such as mononucleosis (glandular fever). In cases where a person

has mono or has had it but not completely recovered, it may be a good idea

to suspect Stomach Qi Deficiency and treat it if present. This is something

I can speak on from experience as I've had mono several times (chronic and

recurring mono). No amount of sleep refreshed me. A person does not have to

have had mono to have this problem as it is a Stomach Qi Deficiency problem,

and Stomach Qi Deficiency can arise from other causes besides mono. When I

first started learning TCM, there was a lot I didn't know, and I was

learning piecemeal. I didn't know about Maciocia's Foundations book. As it

turned out, I discovered most of the points that Maciocia recommends for

morning tiredness (Stomach Qi Deficiency) one at a time via other sources.

None of them mentioned Stomach Qi Deficiency, just fatigue. All I knew was

that these points (and the Hara breathing exercise) really help a lot. So

when I first read Maciocia's book and saw so many of the points that have

helped me the most listed together, I sat up and took notice.

 

BTW, I long ago left behind the waking up tired - long before reading

Maciocia's book in fact, just from using points on myself that I could feel

helping me. My energy often sags in the morning (still some tendency to

Stomach Qi Deficiency), but I wake up refreshed and energetic. Speaking from

personal experience, I definitely recommend considering teaching someone who

has an active case of mono or who hasn't completely recovered from mono

where these acupressure points are. Two others that I would recommend that

are not for Stomach Qi Deficiency but for tiredness are the Sea of Energy,

Bladder 23 and Bladder 47. B 23 tonifies the Kidneys and nourishes the

Essence (Jing), mourishes Blood, resolves Dampness, and strengthens the

Kidney function of Receiving Qi. B 47 regulates Liver Qi.

 

Victoria

 

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