Guest guest Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Hi I am new an my name is Bertha. I have been going to accupuncture and herbalist for about 2 weeks. I am going there because i have andrenal fatigue, severe insomia and anxiety. She put me two herbs. The one that is suppose to help with anxiety and insomia seems to be working for the anxiety but not for the insomia. Is call Gan Mai Da Zao Tang. I can't continue with this insomia. Is really effecting my life. I am lucky if I sleep 5 hours a night. Is there anothor herb I can take that will help with my insomia. I don't think she mixes herbs but just get the ones already in pills. I have heard they aren't as effected as when you drink it in tea. I need something strong because I know my cortisol is high in the evening and that is why I am not sleeping. Thank you in advance Bertha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Hi Bertha, It sounds like you are making some progress. My guess is you have had this problem for some time now and acupuncture and herbs can take a few weeks to kick in. Be sure to express to the person you are seeing that you need help with the insomnia as well. She may also be able to access raw herbs or powders if you let her know that you are willing to spend time cooking them up and drinking nasty tasting stuff. Gan Mao Da Zao Wan is a great formula and can often times be used for insomnia as well as anxiety. Be well, Bob www.acuherbals.com bertha0704482000 <bertha0704482000 wrote: Hi I am new an my name is Bertha. I have been going to accupuncture and herbalist for about 2 weeks. I am going there because i have andrenal fatigue, severe insomia and anxiety. She put me two herbs. The one that is suppose to help with anxiety and insomia seems to be working for the anxiety but not for the insomia. Is call Gan Mai Da Zao Tang. I can't continue with this insomia. Is really effecting my life. I am lucky if I sleep 5 hours a night. Is there anothor herb I can take that will help with my insomia. I don't think she mixes herbs but just get the ones already in pills. I have heard they aren't as effected as when you drink it in tea. I need something strong because I know my cortisol is high in the evening and that is why I am not sleeping. Thank you in advance Bertha Be a better Heartthrob. Get better relationship answers from someone who knows. Answers - Check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 There is only so much that herbs and acupuncture can do for you. It is essential for you to find out the root of your anxiety. If that is not removed, this problem will only linger on regardless of the healing process. From a solely physical perspective, a common cause of insomnia from the perspective of TCM is actually due to over-fatigue of your body. Allow me to explain this concept using the body energy model. This is a model that I use quite common to explain insomnia to my patients as many of them are bothered by this symptom. Imagine that our body uses 2 types of energy, one is regular energy (Or the common Qi) and storage energy which is called Liver Yang or Gan Huo (Gan meaning liver, Huo meaning fire). A healthy individual will wake up in the morning after a good night's sleep and be filled with Qi, or regular energy. As he/she goes through the day, the Qi is used up and the person gets tired. At which point he goes back to sleep and Qi is refilled, thus completing the cycle. This is the ideal cycle for a person. However, such daily routine is rare as people nowadays lives way busier lives, thus most of us uses the second model. A person wakes up in the morning and filled with Qi, as the day goes on he loses the Qi. Once the regular energy is used up, the body switches to the storage energy (Or Liver Yang) and the body keeps going doing the tasks needed. A common example for this is sometimes during the day we will feel sleepy for a period of time. Yet if we just " tough it out " and remain awake either through sheer will or food (coffee/tea/energy drinks/etc), after a while the sleepy-ness will ease and we carry on with our work. This subtle change would be the sign that your body has switched from regular energy to storage energy. The amount of storage energy that each person have varies from person to person depending on his/her health. Prolonged rest (i.e. vacation) and healthy lifestyle (Healthy sleeping patterns) can also replenish ones storage energy. In short, a person that is relatively healthy can maintain this cycle well into his/her mid to late life without too much problems. The last model would explain the body energy cycle of someone with insomnia. When a person is over-fatigued for a long period of time, the body would over-rely on its storage energy, or liver yang, to make it through the day. The problem with over using liver yang is that it makes it more difficult for the person to sleep at night. Even when asleep, the sleeping quality is below average. Without quality sleep, the person does not receive adequate Qi the next morning, thus the body again will have to rely on its liver yang to carry on the tasks. This vicious cycle will continue until the body is constantly using liver yang and causing serious insomnia to the person. As the term " storage " indicates that there is a limit to the amount of energy the person have, if this vicious cycle continues, eventually the person will run out of the storage energy and in TCM terms we call it Ying/Yang depletion. In Modern Medicine, the term Hyperthyroidism quite similar to such event. At that stage, the person's body will be vulnerable to various serious illness and it is quite difficult for one to make it back from that stage. Now, having said so much, the above is said under the notion that the insomnia is caused by over-fatigue of the body, not by non-physical causes such as emotional stress or emotional pressure. If the insomnia has a non-physical cause, then the only way to cure such is to overcome those outer issues. If it's strictly physical, then the following should help. Throughout the day, pay close attention to your body and at any sign of fatigue, rest immediately. Doing so will eliminate your body from further using liver yang. In the evening, about one hour after dinner, dip your feet in warm water for 30-45 minutes. A good place to do so would be in your bath tub, fill warm water to slightly above your ankles. Doing so will alleviate the liver yang that your body has been using for the day and will make it easier for you to sleep afterwards. Many of my patients have told me that they feel extremely tired after the foot-dipping and most will sleep right after. It is important that you sleep early, no later than 10pm. The key is to rest throughout the day and rest frequently. At the beginning, the first week or so, your sleeping pattern will be abnormal, perhaps even reversed. The goal here is to get you out of that vicious cycle that I've described earlier. Once your body is back to using regular Qi as energy, then your sleep patterns will improve and perhaps return to normal. However, from that point on, you will need to maintain a healthy sleeping pattern so that your body will not return back to the current state. Hope this helped. Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Gary Wu " <mcmhealth wrote: > > There is only so much that herbs and acupuncture can do for you. It > is essential for you to find out the root of your anxiety. If that is > not removed, this problem will only linger on regardless of the > healing process. > > From a solely physical perspective, a common cause of insomnia from > the perspective of TCM is actually due to over-fatigue of your body. > Allow me to explain this concept using the body energy model. This is > a model that I use quite common to explain insomnia to my patients as > many of them are bothered by this symptom. > > Imagine that our body uses 2 types of energy, one is regular energy > (Or the common Qi) and storage energy which is called Liver Yang or > Gan Huo (Gan meaning liver, Huo meaning fire). > > A healthy individual will wake up in the morning after a good night's > sleep and be filled with Qi, or regular energy. As he/she goes > through the day, the Qi is used up and the person gets tired. At > which point he goes back to sleep and Qi is refilled, thus completing > the cycle. This is the ideal cycle for a person. However, such daily > routine is rare as people nowadays lives way busier lives, thus most > of us uses the second model. > > A person wakes up in the morning and filled with Qi, as the day goes > on he loses the Qi. Once the regular energy is used up, the body > switches to the storage energy (Or Liver Yang) and the body keeps > going doing the tasks needed. A common example for this is sometimes > during the day we will feel sleepy for a period of time. Yet if we > just " tough it out " and remain awake either through sheer will or food > (coffee/tea/energy drinks/etc), after a while the sleepy-ness will > ease and we carry on with our work. This subtle change would be the > sign that your body has switched from regular energy to storage > energy. The amount of storage energy that each person have varies > from person to person depending on his/her health. Prolonged rest > (i.e. vacation) and healthy lifestyle (Healthy sleeping patterns) can > also replenish ones storage energy. In short, a person that is > relatively healthy can maintain this cycle well into his/her mid to > late life without too much problems. > > The last model would explain the body energy cycle of someone with > insomnia. When a person is over-fatigued for a long period of time, > the body would over-rely on its storage energy, or liver yang, to make > it through the day. The problem with over using liver yang is that it > makes it more difficult for the person to sleep at night. Even when > asleep, the sleeping quality is below average. Without quality sleep, > the person does not receive adequate Qi the next morning, thus the > body again will have to rely on its liver yang to carry on the tasks. > This vicious cycle will continue until the body is constantly using > liver yang and causing serious insomnia to the person. As the term > " storage " indicates that there is a limit to the amount of energy the > person have, if this vicious cycle continues, eventually the person > will run out of the storage energy and in TCM terms we call it > Ying/Yang depletion. In Modern Medicine, the term Hyperthyroidism > quite similar to such event. At that stage, the person's body will be > vulnerable to various serious illness and it is quite difficult for > one to make it back from that stage. > > Now, having said so much, the above is said under the notion that the > insomnia is caused by over-fatigue of the body, not by non-physical > causes such as emotional stress or emotional pressure. If the > insomnia has a non-physical cause, then the only way to cure such is > to overcome those outer issues. If it's strictly physical, then the > following should help. > > Throughout the day, pay close attention to your body and at any sign > of fatigue, rest immediately. Doing so will eliminate your body from > further using liver yang. In the evening, about one hour after > dinner, dip your feet in warm water for 30-45 minutes. A good place > to do so would be in your bath tub, fill warm water to slightly above > your ankles. Doing so will alleviate the liver yang that your body > has been using for the day and will make it easier for you to sleep > afterwards. Many of my patients have told me that they feel extremely > tired after the foot-dipping and most will sleep right after. It is > important that you sleep early, no later than 10pm. The key is to > rest throughout the day and rest frequently. At the beginning, the > first week or so, your sleeping pattern will be abnormal, perhaps even > reversed. The goal here is to get you out of that vicious cycle that > I've described earlier. Once your body is back to using regular Qi as > energy, then your sleep patterns will improve and perhaps return to > normal. However, from that point on, you will need to maintain a > healthy sleeping pattern so that your body will not return back to the > current state. > > Hope this helped. This was certainly helpful to me Gary, thanks for the information. sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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