Guest guest Posted October 4, 2002 Report Share Posted October 4, 2002 Hello again, I was at the accupuncturist this week and (at your suggestiong, Victoria) I asked for my TCM diagnosis, since that day we did a lot of reevaulating of symptoms in my entire body, rather than focusing only on my leg injury( we had done the full eval thing initially, but it had been a while) and after much question and answer, they came up with Liver Qi Stagnation (which was nothing new, the injury is along the liver channel and is stubborn as hell in its healing) and, now I wish I had written this down, but something along the lines of (ying/yang/yen somethng like that ) rising ( I know I remmeber the 'rising' part!) characterized by specificaly, my propensity of waking up in the middle of the night very hot and sweating frequently feeling hot at night, etc, that sort of thing. Also commened on the purplish tint to my fingernails and some other things I am forgetting at the moment. Also affected, as we discussed before, my frustration and anger issues at the injury itself. There was of course, other things, but primarily my Liver qi (and yin/yang??) seems to be blocked, stagnated, off balance, or some of all. He concluded the re-injury and recurrence of pain was likely the result of scar tissue being yanked around due to things moving in the healing process, and while we would rather NOT have that, its not necessarily a bad thing it occured. We are taking a break from the poultice for now, with plans to go back to it, but they prescribed me a set of raw herbs ot cook and drink for the next 5 days. I don't have any idea WHAT herbs they are (there are 8) but they are desinged primarily to get my blood in my leg moving. My question is this.. Is there any trick or thoughts on how to drink this tea without losing my lunch? This stuff is horrid tasting and its a feat to get the 1 cup, twice a day down. Are there any tricks to the trade to make it mroe palatable? One of the interns at the clinic suggested putting a piece of ginger on my tounge. Any others? Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 4, 2002 Report Share Posted October 4, 2002 > Liver Qi Stagnation (which was nothing new, the injury is along the > liver channel and is stubborn as hell in its healing) > and, now I wish I had written this down, but something along the lines > of (ying/yang/yen somethng like that ) rising ( I know I remmeber the > 'rising' part!) > characterized by specificaly, my propensity of waking up in the middle > of the night very hot and sweating frequently feeling hot at night, > etc, that sort of thing. Liver Yang Rising. There are some posts on it in the message base. Liver Yang doesn't rise unless Liver Yin is Deficient and can't control it. The symptoms you mentioned - waking up in the middle of the night feeling hot, night sweats, etc. are symptoms of Yin Deficiency. Other symptoms and signs can include a " malar " flush (face not uniformly red but blotchy, especially on cheeks - uniformly red is a sign of Excess Heat, blotchy red is a possible sign of Deficiency Heat (Yin Deficiency).) Yin cools, calms, and moistens. There also are some posts on Yin Deficiency in the message base. One of the earliest posts I did was a rather lenghty one on Yin and Yang Deficiencies. > Also commened on the purplish tint to my > fingernails and some other things I am forgetting at the moment. Blood Stasis. Whenever you see purple discoloration - in the tongue tissue, the nails, the skin - this indicates Blood Stasis. Check your tongue and see if parts of it have a purplish tint. Blueish-purple indicates Blood Stasis with Cold; reddish-purple indicates Blood Stasis with Heat. Both colors may be present in different parts of the body or tongue if the person is suffering from Heat in one area and Cold in the other. For example, the fingernails may be bluish-purple because not enough warming Qi and Blood are getting to them because of blockage, but the tongue may be reddish-purple because the main problem is Heat (Yin Deficiency Heat in your case). > to it, but they prescribed me a set of raw herbs ot cook and drink for > the next 5 days. I don't have any idea WHAT herbs they are (there are > 8) but they are desinged primarily to get my blood in my leg moving. > My question is this.. > Is there any trick or thoughts on how to drink this tea without losing > my lunch? This stuff is horrid tasting and its a feat to get the 1 cup, > twice a day down. Are there any tricks to the trade to make it mroe > palatable? None that I'm aware of. In my case I eventually came to get used to and even like the taste of some of the teas. But there is no getting use to the taste of some herbs. Some of them can be very nasty. It sounds like some of the herbs in the formula are Herbs that Invigorate Blood (treat Blood Stasis). There may be some Yin tonic herbs included in the formula. Sometimes herbs can be given in pill form. But sometimes, for certain conditions and certain individuals, they are best taken as teas. They are more effective as teas instead of in pill form or powder form. > affected, as we discussed before, my frustration and anger issues at > the injury itself. The Liver is very vulnerable to anger and frustration, and Liver imbalance will, in turn, cause a person to be more prone to feeling anger and frustration. Are you doing any relaxation exercises or meditation? Think of meditation as taking a brief vacation for the Liver from anger and frustration. The brief vacations will facilitate healing because for these brief periods the anger and frustration are not further imbalancing the Liver. Don't try to be anger- and frustration-free 24 hours a day. For one thing, this in itself can give rise to frustration. For another, if you try to suppress anger, it's just going to do more damage. When you feel angry and frustrated, just acknowledge it and let the feeling flow through you. Hit a pillow if you want to. When not blocked, the emotion will transmute. And feeling is not acting upon. Then, give yourself permission to take brief vacations from the anger and frustration. Say, " Yeah, I'm angry and frustrated, and I have good reason to feel angry and frustrated. But for 5 minutes I'm going to take a vacation from the anger and frustration. " Problems only arise when people try to take a permanent vacation from negative emotions instead of feeling them, acknowledging them, and learning from them. This is denial. Victoria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 5, 2002 Report Share Posted October 5, 2002 Victoria, Thank you again for your thoughts. I am learning more and more by the day. I am going back to base messages and trying to gain a better understanding of the general terms. As for the herbs, I am trying, I really am. Generally am not sqeamish, nor picky about food and such, but this goes beyond tolerable. I did not cook my new batch for my 2nd cup of the day, as the first I had resulted in gagging so much much stocmanc hurt (I managed to keep everything down, but the gag reflex kicked in with every drink I took). I will try again tomorrow however, in hopes that I will come to tolerate it. Am I doing myself a huge disservice if I am unable to get the herbs down? > > Liver Qi Stagnation (which was nothing new, the injury is along the > > liver channel and is stubborn as hell in its healing) > > and, now I wish I had written this down, but something along the > lines > > of (ying/yang/yen somethng like that ) rising ( I know I remmeber > the > > 'rising' part!) > > characterized by specificaly, my propensity of waking up in the > middle > > of the night very hot and sweating frequently feeling hot at night, > > etc, that sort of thing. > > Liver Yang Rising. There are some posts on it in the message base. > > Liver Yang doesn't rise unless Liver Yin is Deficient and can't > control it. The symptoms you mentioned - waking up in the middle of > the night feeling hot, night sweats, etc. are symptoms of Yin > Deficiency. Other symptoms and signs can include a " malar " flush > (face not uniformly red but blotchy, especially on cheeks - uniformly > red is a sign of Excess Heat, blotchy red is a possible sign of > Deficiency Heat (Yin Deficiency).) Yin cools, calms, and moistens. > There also are some posts on Yin Deficiency in the message base. One > of the earliest posts I did was a rather lenghty one on Yin and Yang > Deficiencies. > > > Also commened on the purplish tint to my > > fingernails and some other things I am forgetting at the moment. > > Blood Stasis. > > Whenever you see purple discoloration - in the tongue tissue, the > nails, the skin - this indicates Blood Stasis. Check your tongue and > see if parts of it have a purplish tint. Blueish-purple indicates > Blood Stasis with Cold; reddish-purple indicates Blood Stasis with > Heat. Both colors may be present in different parts of the body or > tongue if the person is suffering from Heat in one area and Cold in > the other. For example, the fingernails may be bluish-purple because > not enough warming Qi and Blood are getting to them because of > blockage, but the tongue may be reddish-purple because the main > problem is Heat (Yin Deficiency Heat in your case). > > > to it, but they prescribed me a set of raw herbs ot cook and drink > for > > the next 5 days. I don't have any idea WHAT herbs they are (there > are > > 8) but they are desinged primarily to get my blood in my leg moving. > > My question is this.. > > Is there any trick or thoughts on how to drink this tea without > losing > > my lunch? This stuff is horrid tasting and its a feat to get the 1 > cup, > > twice a day down. Are there any tricks to the trade to make it mroe > > palatable? > > None that I'm aware of. In my case I eventually came to get used to > and even like the taste of some of the teas. But there is no getting > use to the taste of some herbs. Some of them can be very nasty. > > It sounds like some of the herbs in the formula are Herbs that > Invigorate Blood (treat Blood Stasis). There may be some Yin tonic > herbs included in the formula. > > Sometimes herbs can be given in pill form. But sometimes, for > certain conditions and certain individuals, they are best taken as > teas. They are more effective as teas instead of in pill form or > powder form. > > > affected, as we discussed before, my frustration and anger issues > at > > the injury itself. > > The Liver is very vulnerable to anger and frustration, and Liver > imbalance will, in turn, cause a person to be more prone to feeling > anger and frustration. Are you doing any relaxation exercises or > meditation? Think of meditation as taking a brief vacation for the > Liver from anger and frustration. The brief vacations will facilitate > healing because for these brief periods the anger and frustration are > not further imbalancing the Liver. > > Don't try to be anger- and frustration-free 24 hours a day. For one > thing, this in itself can give rise to frustration. For another, if > you try to suppress anger, it's just going to do more damage. When > you feel angry and frustrated, just acknowledge it and let the > feeling flow through you. Hit a pillow if you want to. When not > blocked, the emotion will transmute. And feeling is not acting > upon. Then, give yourself permission to take brief vacations from > the anger and frustration. Say, " Yeah, I'm angry and frustrated, and > I have good reason to feel angry and frustrated. But for 5 minutes > I'm going to take a vacation from the anger and frustration. " > Problems only arise when people try to take a permanent vacation from > negative emotions instead of feeling them, acknowledging them, and > learning from them. This is denial. > > Victoria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 5, 2002 Report Share Posted October 5, 2002 > I will try again tomorrow however, in hopes that I will come to > tolerate it. > Am I doing myself a huge disservice if I am unable to get the herbs > down? Call your acupuncturist and tell him how the tea is affecting you. It may be only one herb in the formula which is the problem. Can you identify a particular taste that is causing the problem? Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, or pungent (spicey)? Victoria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 5, 2002 Report Share Posted October 5, 2002 Hrmmm... Some of the smell is putrid, but I learned to get around that (mostly) by plugging my nose. Most of taste that I am having trouble with is tasted on the tip and front part of my tounge. I am not remembering 6th grade science very well right now, so I can't remember what kind of flavors the front of your tounge picks up. I'll pay attention to that when I try it again. Katrina > Call your acupuncturist and tell him how the tea is affecting you. > It may be only one herb in the formula which is the problem. Can you > identify a particular taste that is causing the problem? Salty, > sweet, bitter, sour, or pungent (spicey)? > > Victoria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 5, 2002 Report Share Posted October 5, 2002 >>>Is there any trick or thoughts on how to drink this tea without losing my lunch? This stuff is horrid tasting and its a feat to get the 1 cup, twice a day down. Are there any tricks to the trade to make it mroe palatable? One of the interns at the clinic suggested putting a piece of ginger on my tounge. Any others?<<< You can have your formula made up from powdered extracts and put into capsules. That's what I do in my clinic. Your acupuncturist can order this for you from companies such as quali-herb or evergreen, both in California. I also provide this service for those with prescriptions from herbalists who only work with raw herbs. The encapsulated herbs are perhaps not as strong as the raw herbs, but the compliance (ability to actually take them) is significantly higher. -al. -- Al Stone L.Ac. <AlStone http://www.BeyondWellBeing.com Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 5, 2002 Report Share Posted October 5, 2002 Victoria & Katrina,From experience with Pericardium imbalances, there is a strong sensitivity to unfamiliar tastes, smells, sounds. It is important to have familiar things in one's life. It doesn't surprise me that you are squeamish about the tastes. On the tip of the tongue is where sweet and salty taste sensations are. Sweet is the Earth element and salty is more the taste of Primordial Sea. The primordial soup was salty which gave it the ability to nurture life. Water for me is more connected to bland tastes, which are more your diuretics. Bland diuretics are more for Kidney/Water treatments. So from 6 element theory, if your sensitivity is on the tip of the tongue, that relates to earth or primordial sea. These work together to stabilize the digestion, emotional stability and the middle burner. Earth is connected to digestion, but digestion is the one function of the body that is not designed to maintain homeostasis. All others need balancing but not digestion. Digestion is turned on and keeps going until it is done. The hypothalamus, under the control of San Jiao, makes the decision when to stop eating and controls how much energy we put toward digestion. San Jiao is the homeostatic control of the body. This points out a big difference between Stomach and San Jiao. To sum it up, decide which taste is more unsettling, sweet or salty? Then you'll have a clue to whether it is ST/Sp or SJ/Pc where the imbalance is. If it is salty, SJ/Pc, then mild tasting herb formulae are better with aromatics that allow for openness in the flow of Qi and better breathing. This helps to nurture SJ/Pc overtime. Any balancing of SJ/Pc does take time. The body has an innate resistance to resetting its homeostatic controls and needs time to be convinced of it.- Ed > " Katrina " <khwoodcock > > As for the herbs, I am trying, I really am. Generally am not sqeamish, > nor picky about food and such, but this goes beyond tolerable. I did > not cook my new batch for my 2nd cup of the day, as the first I had > resulted in gagging so much much stocmanc hurt (I managed to keep > everything down, but the gag reflex kicked in with every drink I took). > I will try again tomorrow however, in hopes that I will come to > tolerate it. > Am I doing myself a huge disservice if I am unable to get the herbs > down? > > " victoria_dragon " <victoria_dragon > Re: Herbs (tea) > > Call your acupuncturist and tell him how the tea is affecting you. > It may be only one herb in the formula which is the problem. Can you > identify a particular taste that is causing the problem? Salty, > sweet, bitter, sour, or pungent (spicey)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2002 Report Share Posted October 6, 2002 Thank you Al, I will ask them on Monday when I go back in. You make a very good point. What good are the strength of the raw herbs if I don't take them? Katrina > > You can have your formula made up from powdered extracts and put into > capsules. That's what I do in my clinic. > > Your acupuncturist can order this for you from companies such as > quali-herb or evergreen, both in California. > > I also provide this service for those with prescriptions from herbalists > who only work with raw herbs. The encapsulated herbs are perhaps not as > strong as the raw herbs, but the compliance (ability to actually take > them) is significantly higher. > > -al. > > -- > Al Stone L.Ac. > <AlStone@B...> > http://www.BeyondWellBeing.com > > Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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