Chronic allergies formula?

May 1, 2009

On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 8:38 AM, Denise Cicuto <dcicuto wrote:

> I have a patient [...] and a feeling of an energy block at her throat

> separating her head from the lower part of her body.)

>

This " energy block " is a little bit off the map for me. I have in the past

experienced a sense like this, but it was associated with some fatigue such

as I might call it wind-damp as a sensation. It would be good to get other

words to get at this more clearly such as a feeling of heaviness in the

body, dizziness, etc.

Sometimes, patients will be given a diagnosis by someone which then takes

residence in the mind of the patient, even though there may be reality to it

all. In other words, make sure that this " energy block " can be described in

other physical sensations rather than the end-point diagnosis of " energy

block " so you can put it on to the CM map.

she had a really strong reaction which she self-described as 'insane' losing

> her coping skills and had to hide from people for the weekend. And she was

> only taking small dosages of each patent formula.

>

Well, we know that she's sensitive to allergens. I myself find that goat

cheese makes me insane too as a sort of food allergy, so I would honor this

experience. However, I'm not ruling out that it's a complete nocebo (placebo

side-effect) response.

I would consider giving her single herbs to test one at a time. In

particular, I like lian qiao for its dispersing qualities consistent with

the wind-type allergy presentation, but also because it clears heart heat

and can calm her down. I also think it's kind of tasty, like mint, so that's

a product feature too.

I told her to take the Ci Wu Jia for one week and the Huang Qi for

> another week after that. She did very well with them but still had allergy

> symptoms.

>

Great! But two weeks of tonics for wei qi is nothing. Take it for two months

and have her call you in the morning.

> For about a week, she did well with Formula 1 and Ci Wu Jia and didn't need

> Formula 2. Then yesterday, she told me that taking Formula 1 *without *the

> Ci Wu Jia made her eyes less itchy and nose less runny but gave her a

> splitting headache. She interprets this as an allergic response to the herbs

> and doesn't want to take them.

>

Yeah, this is sounding like a nocebo reaction. I don't suppose that it

occurred to anybody to go back on Formula 1 *with* the Ci Wu Jia? What's

wrong with that?

I'm guessing that a certain amount of your question really comes down to

case management. This patient is clearly frightened, though I don't rule out

legitimate allergies and interactions, but like I said above, if the Formula

1 + Ci Wu Jia was well tolerated, and she doesn't want to return to that,

find out why.

Seems to me that she needs to get past her fears here, in which case it

comes down to how you present the formula. I suggest giving her all of the

ingredients separetly, test each one individually, and then mix them

together once she can get past her fear of them. Or remove any problematic

herb. The whole goal here is to find a means by which you can get her past

her fears.

--

, DAOM

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

May 1, 2009

Hi Denise,

I have treated a few patients with similar symptoms. My feeling with them was

that they had Wei Qi vacuity, with deficient heart fire, just as you did in this

case. Note that her most of her symptoms manifest in the upper Jiao. Ask her

if she likes to drink warm drinks. Also ask her to discribe her bowel habits.

What I would suggest is to definitely consider giving her Yu Ping Feng San, and

if she has a tendency to feel cold, dislike cold weather or drink warm drinks,

complement it with Gui Zhi Wan. Rather than treat the sinusitis, rhinitis and

allergies directly with formulas such as Cang Er Zi wan, Bi Yan Pian, or Pe MIn

kan wan, if have found that in cases of Wei Qi Xu such as you describe, that

those formulas are too reducing and actually exacerbate the allergies and

symptoms. I would also not treat the liver QI stagnation directly, but

instead, reduce the heart fire and calm the Shen. A formula such as Bai Zi Yang

Xin Wan

should do the trick for that.

By consolidating the Wei Qi and calming the Shen, G-d willing, I think she will