Excess weight and Wind (Interior Wind 2)

[Guest guest]

Sometimes the tremors and spasms of Interior Wind may not be

visisble to an observer - like when there are spasms of the

esophagus, stomach, bowels, etc. The client may or may not mention

them depending on how severe they are and how often they occur.

 

Sometimes a spasm will be very strong. For example, when the

esophagus spasms it can be mistaken for heart palpatations and heart

trouble, even a heart attack.

 

Sometimes the spasms in the stomach can be very strong (and

attention getting). But sometimes the spasms will be more like a

fluttering. BTW, Interior Wind can arise from 3 different Liver

imbalances, and the symptoms of each will vary some. For example,

when the tremor is very fine or the spasms are flutterings, this

points to Blood Deficiency being what gives rises to the tremors and

spasms. The tremors and spasms of Interior Wind arising from extreme

Heat in the Liver or Liver Yang Rising are much more pronounced than

those arising from Blood Deficiency. Likewise, one doesn't see

convulsions from Wind arising from Blood Deficiency but can see them

in cases of Liver Yang Rising and severe Heat in the Liver.

 

The Liver is most vulnerable to Wind. It's also not real fond of

Dampness. Both Wind and Dampness will constrain the Liver and

interfere with its proper distribution of Qi. The Blood Stasis gives

rise to Liver Wind which restrains the Liver and interferes with the

proper flow of Qi.

 

A part of getting really good at diagnosis in TCM is knowing

etiologies. How a condition can arise. Textbooks talk like and on

here we often talk like all TCM imbalances are going to be standouts

and very easy to spot. This isn't always the case. Sometimes the

clinical picture is complex and the person has so many problems that

the more severe imblances can mask other imbalances and the symptoms

could be accounted for by something else. For example the dull pale

complexion of Blood Deficiency. But Kidney Yang Deficiency also

manifests with a pale though shiny pale complexion. If the Yang

Deficiency is severe, the complextion is going to be shiny pale even

if Blood Deficiency is present. Other manifestations of Blood

Deficiency may also be masked or may not be present when the client

is examined. (More on that " may not be present when the client is

examined " later because it ties in directly with the symptoms of

Interior Wind.) When something isn't a standout and a determination

is iffy, this is where knowing etiologies comes in handy. For

example, if the person is reporting fluttering in the stomach or

other mild internal spasms and spasms, this points to Interior Wind

due to Blood Deficiency. Since Interior Wind attacks and restrains

the Liver and interferes with proper Qi flow, the Liver imbalance

and the Qi Stagnation from Blood Deficiency producing Liver Wind

aren't going to clear up until the Blood Deficiency is cleared up.

One can give herbs to dredge the Liver and move Qi (and Blood) and

have to keep giving them until that Blood Deficiency also is

corrected. It's like bailing a boat with a leak in it. Until that

leak is fixed, water is going to keep coming into the boat. Until

the Blood Deficiency is corrected, the Liver is going to keep being

restrained and/or Qi is going to continue to Stagnate.

 

> " Wind is swift and changeable " , (unlike obesity,

> I'd add.)

 

And therein lies another clue to spotting Interior Wind. " Swift and

changeable " . If a client says something along the lines of " my

symptoms come and go, and wax and wane in intensity " , strongly

suspect Interior Wind. Also if the client reports symptoms that move

around within the trunk of the body. Like for example, " sometimes I

have spasms in the esophagus, and sometimes my stomach spasms. "

 

Remember I said that sometimes the client has symptoms that aren't

present when the person is examined, and that this ties into

Interior Wind? Do they ever! This is one of the things that can make

spotting all the imbalances so difficult in a person who has

Interior Wind problems. Other comments one may hear from a person

with Interior Wind problems is " I never know how I'm going to feel

from day to day " (or " moment to moment " in severe cases).

 

So far we haven't gone into obesity and Liver Wind. I mean people

who aren't overweight can have the Blood Deficiency > Liver Wind >

Liver restrain and/or Qi Stagnation sequence. In a moment we'll get

to the obesity part of the equation.

 

What makes Wind particularly troublesome from a health standpoint is

how it so readily teams up with other Pernicious Evils to produce

problems. Wind readily teams up with Cold, Heat, Damp, and Dryness

and can produce some super problems as well as some problems like

the common Cold (Invasion by Wind Cold (usually) or Wind Heat.

 

When we're talking about " super " problems, we're talking about

PHLEGM. When a problem is hard to diagnose, manifests in some weird

ways, and/or doesn't respond to treatment, strongly suspect Phlegm.

 

> " Wind is swift and changeable " , (unlike obesity,

> I'd add.)

 

But Phlegm isn't swift and changeable. There are different types of

Phlegm depending on what what the Dampness teamed up with.

Sometimes the Dampness teams up with Wind and produces Wind Phlegm.

One way Wind Phlegm can manisfest is obsity. In fact, usually are

obese plus they have " cough and excessive sputum, rattling sound in

throat, stale greasy fur, a bowstring slippery pulse. " (C.S. Cheung,

Comprehensive Management Phlegm Fluid (Tan Yin), p. 21.)

 

Additional key symptoms can include:

 

" Aversion to wind, cough, dyspnea, expertoration of sputum

 

" Migrating pain of limbs, subcutaneous swellings, numbness, tremor,

pruritus, paralysis, aphasia

 

" Mental confusion, aphasia, vertigo, headache

 

" Insantiy, mania, convulsion, epilepsy " (p. 21.) (Note the " can

include " . This list of symptoms includes the worst case scenarios as

well as the more usual.)

 

The treatment principles according to Cheung are " Dredge Wind and

dissolve Phlegm, Extinguish Wind and dissolve Phlegm, Pursue Wind

and cleanse Phlegm. " (p. 21.)

 

Note: When treating Phlegm, it's not just a matter of prescribing an

herb that attacks, dissolves, cleanses Phlegm. The Pernicious Evils

also have to be treated (note the references to treating Wind) AND

in many cases what gave rise to the Perncious Evil. (Lots of luck

treating Wind Phlegm due to Interior Wind due to Blood Deficiency

without also treating the Blood Deficiency. It's that bailing the

leaky boat without plugging the hole thing again.) (Note: In some

cases of treating Phlegm - like Cold Phlegm - the herbs that treat

Phlegm don't work that well and may even cause problems. Instead, to

clear up Cold Phlegm one has to clear up the Cold.)

 

Flaws's article also give further insight into the role of Liver

imbalance and Qi Stagnation in obesity. One possible etiology

sequence is Blood Deficiency > Interior Wind > Depressed Liver

and/or Qi Stagnation > obesity.

[Guest guest]

I think I must have misinterpreted your comment r.e.

internal wind. I " heard " you as saying that internal

wind is a common cause of obesity, whereas you're

probably just saying that those who suffer from

obesity may have internal wind as well. If I'm

still not reading you correctly, what percentage

of patients do you see as having internal wind

causing obesity? Which symptoms are they

typically manifesting?

Jeri