Guest guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Hello all Actually, I am already a member of this herb group. But, have not been active on it lately, and recently went through a change of email address. And now I have to introduce myself again to complete the subscription process. Probably just as well. My name is Michael Max, I am a licensed acupuncturist in Washington state. I am currently living in Taipei, Taiwan. Where I am attending the Mandarin Training Center. And doing my best to learn Mandarin Chinese. I'm working some zhong yi's over here. And learning more about herbs. Which is my main reason for learning the language. I want to talk directly with old doctors. Speaking of which. I had an interesting experience last week. I got sick. I wasn't quite sure what it was. There is combination here of hot and humid and cold, from all the air conditioning. I got some kind of cold, damp pathogen, that quickly turned to heat. Colds are hard to track anyway. And here in a very different climate, I could not follow what was happening to me. I was just sick. A friend here was also ill. And she knew of this old herbalist. So we went. He spent about 10 minutes with each of us. 5 of diagnosing. And 5 writing a prescription. I could not read his writing. I asked his assistant, who was making up the formula what it was. My Chinese is limited, but I understand herbs and formulas. She started reading off the list to me. It was not herbs. It was formulas. All told. 6 formulas. In granular form. With another 9 herbs thrown in. Mainly formulas to clear the lung and clear heat, and phlegm. I often get a dry cough after an external invasion. And I felt the beginning signs of it coming on. Strongly. I took two doses of the herbs. And went to sleep. Not expecting to sleep through the night. Which I did. And I expected to wake coughing. I did not. The usual dry cough was not here. There was plenty of moist phlegm that came out easily. A slight cough, that was very productive. I was quite skeptical of his formula. I was taught that you hone down a diagnosis. Craft a formula that matches it. And be precise and elegant with it. This doctor used what looked like a shotgun approach to me. A sawed off shotgun. But, it worked better for my cough than any other treatment I have tried. Ever. So I am learning something here about new approaches. Or, at least approaches I have not been taught. I look forward to the day when I can speak with him in Mandarin. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Hi Michael, Interesting story...So what were the formulas? What kind of dosages? Did the old herbalist also have a raw herbal pharmacy, or only granulars? From what I understand graulated herbal extracts have been popular and accessible in Taiwan for some time now. Do you tend to see acupuncturist/herbalists in Taipei, or more specialists? Kip Roseman > [Original Message] > Michael Max L.Ac <michael > > 6/8/01 4:22:45 AM > Herb group > > Hello all > > Actually, I am already a member of this herb group. But, have not been > active on it lately, and recently went through a change of email address. > And now I have to introduce myself again to complete the subscription > process. > > Probably just as well. My name is Michael Max, I am a licensed acupuncturist > in Washington state. > > I am currently living in Taipei, Taiwan. Where I am attending the Mandarin > Training Center. And doing my best to learn Mandarin Chinese. I'm working > some zhong yi's over here. And learning more about herbs. Which is my main > reason for learning the language. I want to talk directly with old doctors. > > Speaking of which. I had an interesting experience last week. I got sick. I > wasn't quite sure what it was. There is combination here of hot and humid > and cold, from all the air conditioning. I got some kind of cold, damp > pathogen, that quickly turned to heat. Colds are hard to track anyway. And > here in a very different climate, I could not follow what was happening to > me. I was just sick. A friend here was also ill. And she knew of this old > herbalist. So we went. > > He spent about 10 minutes with each of us. 5 of diagnosing. And 5 writing a > prescription. I could not read his writing. I asked his assistant, who was > making up the formula what it was. My Chinese is limited, but I understand > herbs and formulas. She started reading off the list to me. It was not > herbs. It was formulas. All told. 6 formulas. In granular form. With another > 9 herbs thrown in. Mainly formulas to clear the lung and clear heat, and > phlegm. > > I often get a dry cough after an external invasion. And I felt the beginning > signs of it coming on. Strongly. I took two doses of the herbs. And went to > sleep. Not expecting to sleep through the night. Which I did. And I expected > to wake coughing. I did not. The usual dry cough was not here. There was > plenty of moist phlegm that came out easily. A slight cough, that was very > productive. > > I was quite skeptical of his formula. I was taught that you hone down a > diagnosis. Craft a formula that matches it. And be precise and elegant with > it. This doctor used what looked like a shotgun approach to me. A sawed off > shotgun. But, it worked better for my cough than any other treatment I have > tried. Ever. > > So I am learning something here about new approaches. Or, at least > approaches I have not been taught. > > I look forward to the day when I can speak with him in Mandarin. > > Michael > > Chinese Herbal Medicine, a voluntary organization of licensed healthcare practitioners, matriculated students and postgraduate academics specializing in Chinese Herbal Medicine, provides a variety of professional services, including board approved online continuing education. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 welcolme back Michael. Why don't you email us your translations of chapters out of Li Shi Zhens Ben cao gang mu as you do them!! Heiko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 Fri, 8 Jun 2001 19:12:47 -0700 " Joseph Roseman " <kipr0823 RE: Herb group >>Interesting story...So what were the formulas? What kind of dosages? Did the old herbalist also have a raw herbal pharmacy, or only granulars? From what I understand graulated herbal extracts have been popular and accessible in Taiwan for some time now. Do you tend to see acupuncturist/herbalists in Taipei, or more specialists?<< The formulas in my prescription were: xin yi qing fei san cang er zi san xing su san jin fei cao san Qian bi san ?? si sheng san herbs: bai zhi, xi xin, yu xing cao, ban xia, xing ren, qian hu, jie geng, fang feng, jing jie. I'm sorry, I did not get the doses. The granulated powders are very popular here. Most pharmacies stock both powders and raw herbs. I've met a few herbalists here. And really only one acupuncturist. I've spend a little time at the clinic of a well known doctor here. He has a number of foreigners studying with him. His students do the acupuncture that he prescribes. Mostly, people come to see him for the herbs. I've recently met another acupuncturist, as well. And just getting to know him. I tend to see acupuncturists/herbalists when I have health issues. Although, I've also visited one of the foot massage guys. they are all over the place. Very painful treatments. And left me feeling light on my feet when it was over. Good stuff if you can take the pain. I learned real fast how to tell him, in Chinese, to lighten up! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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