Case of Painful Tongue

June 15, 2007

I was wondering if anyone could please offer advice on a patient I

have been treating.

She came to me after spending a considerable amount of money on

various therapies in an attempt to heal her painful tongue. She told

me this was the last attempt to heal it.

She told me of suffering anxiety all her life, beginning with trauma

in the womb and a difficult relationship with her mother who was

admitted to a hospice with consumption after her birth. (her mother

was advised not to have children as her health was poor and she was

very weak). She complained of post traumatic stress and spoke of

regression into past lives to try and come to terms with it. (This I

have tried to discourage as I do not find it helpful to become

fixated on this line of thought)

She has remained in a state of fear and frustration for most of her

adult life, in a difficult controlling relationship with her husband,

culminating in her nursing him through a protracted illness until he

died.

The stress and anxiety was heightened at the time of her daughters

wedding which she also found highly challenging time. (June 2006)

This was when the pain of her tongue began. She is now in a happy

loving relationship but pushes herself everyday having extremely

active days.

She presented with symptoms such as recurring nightmares every night,

night sweats, her temperature was unregulated throughout the day,

sweats in the 5 palms. Phlegm-y throat. Last period was a small

amount of spotting in October 2006. She felt panicky at the throat

and churning in the stomach.

Liver, Kidney and Thyroid function test ok, has been diagnosed with a

heart murmour, High cholesterol, high haemoglobin levels. She takes

4g of buffered vit C daily on advice of naturopath, magnesium, B6 and

Zinc. (Moved onto " sizzling minerals " (plant based i think) 3 weeks

into tx)

The tongue itself was swollen and pale over the rear two thirds,

covered with a thick white coat, and the front third was dry, very

thin and intensely deep red

Deep fissures transversely were evident when she stretched her tongue

(by curling it under). The roof of her mouth was sore and feeling

tongue rub on teeth constantly was very distressing for her. Salivary

glands were ok. Pain in tongue was worse with anxiety.

Pulse was rapid, choppy, thin

Dx. Kidney and Heart not communicating , Kid Yin Xu, Heart Fire, ->

Shen Disturbance. Stomach Fire

She was reluctant to try acupuncture and terrified of the needles but

committed to come for a few weeks. We managed to get the nightmares,

night sweats and temperature regulated, and anxiety levels were

dramatically improved. Her appetite was voracious (with huge plates

specially commissioned to contain the vast quantity of vegetables

consumed every night!) Qing wei san and tian wang bu xin wan

prescribed (patents only due to restriction imposed at the clinic)

Things going well until she went for reflexology and symptoms all

stirred up again. Subsided once more after acu tx. Tooth abscess

appeared after hopi ear candle, caused much distress, swapped qing

wei san to huang lian jie du wan. Abscess then burst and drained

away. Discovered she was compulsively eating chocolate, several bars,

packs of biscuits, easter eggs in one go. Ear seeds used to calm

cravings with success. Advised no sugar or yeast diet as had thrush

attack (calmed by acu) and a history of cystitis for over 10 years

thru 30's. Not convinced she is sticking to the diet tho.

She stopped acu tx due financial reasons and fear of needles, but

will come again if I advise her to. I haven't given acu for a while

as she worries about needles for days before the tx, (she is ok

during tx, my needling isn't that terrible!). Pain in tongue now

changeable, mostly ok but worse when stressed. Saw her briefly today

(not in a formal appointment), the tongue colour is now more even

light red, thin coat but crack looked a little wider. Front edge of

tongue is a little scalloped

Acu points used were generally Zhongwan, Taixi, Neiguan, Sanyinjiao,

Xuehai, Neiting, Zusanli, Hegu, Guanyuan, Yintang,

Xinshu, Shenshu, Weishu, Ganshu, Jueyinshu, Pishu

Any advice on treating patient of this nature would be appreciated as

not sure which direction to go next.

Thanks, Christine

June 16, 2007

On Friday 15 June 2007 14:32, c_s_tcm wrote:

Hi Christine!

The thrush attack is your major clue, in my opinion. Get her to eliminate

yeast, bread, starch and sugar for a week or two (as long as she is willing

to try) and see if it helps. A week or so of vegetables and meat shouldn't be

too intolerable.

Is she taking any antibiotics, or has she ever? If she is/has she should do

some sort of probiotic therapy since the gut bacteria is most likely depleted

and yeast is taking over. Even plain sugar free yogurt containing active

culture would help if this is the problem.

> I was wondering if anyone could please offer advice on a patient I

> have been treating.

> She came to me after spending a considerable amount of money on

> various therapies in an attempt to heal her painful tongue. She told

> me this was the last attempt to heal it.

--

Regards,

Pete

http://www.pete-theisen.com/

June 16, 2007

Pete:

We've missed you! Have you been travelling in that mobile acupuncture unit idea

I had?

Hope you are well.

Anne

-------------- Original message ----------------------

Pete Theisen <petetheisen

> On Friday 15 June 2007 14:32, c_s_tcm wrote:

>

> Hi Christine!

>

> The thrush attack is your major clue, in my opinion. Get her to eliminate

> yeast, bread, starch and sugar for a week or two (as long as she is willing

> to try) and see if it helps. A week or so of vegetables and meat shouldn't be

> too intolerable.

>

> Is she taking any antibiotics, or has she ever? If she is/has she should do

> some sort of probiotic therapy since the gut bacteria is most likely depleted

> and yeast is taking over. Even plain sugar free yogurt containing active

> culture would help if this is the problem.

>

> > I was wondering if anyone could please offer advice on a patient I

> > have been treating.

> > She came to me after spending a considerable amount of money on

> > various therapies in an attempt to heal her painful tongue. She told

> > me this was the last attempt to heal it.

> --

> Regards,

>

> Pete

> http://www.pete-theisen.com/

June 16, 2007

Hi Christine. I find the most useful thing for me in this situation is simply

to summarise accurately and cleanly where, when and why patient's presenting

complaint improved or got worse. Heart fire makes it very difficult for the

consciousness to shine consistently, preventing proper, calm, focus. You might

need to do that for them. If you summarise honestly and simply, they will very

easily get the point and find their own motivation to continue, in some way, the

treatment that has helped them. Remember that many of us are not able to

recognise healing when it occurs.

Even those patients of mine who have chosen to not cont tx have been very

grateful to know that they /do/ have soemthing to stand on if they need it in

the future.

Hugo

c_s_tcm <c_s_tcm

Chinese Medicine

Friday, 15 June, 2007 3:32:00 PM