My Full Recovery By TCM + TCM issues Q&A

[invisiblejungle]

@wintersky, do you know any Rehmannia or Rehammnia 6 that's sold online that is cooked before its packaged.

This looks pretty decent: http://www.dragonherbs.com/prodinfo.asp?number=326 but I have no way knowing what I get. Or could I go for a pure formulas alcohol mix? https://www.pureformulas.com/rehmannia-1-oz-by-herb-pharm.html

Hi Nelly,

The Dragon Herbs formula is an extract of a formula called Liu Wei Di Huang, which has cooked rehmannia (shu di huang) as its chief ingredient. Any product that's sold as Rehmannia Six is going to have cooked rehmannia. Raw rehmannia is labeled as sheng di huang.

The Herb Pharm tincture is also made from cooked rehmannia, but in general, I wouldn't recommend taking alcoholic tinctures of Chinese herbs. This tincture is a 1:5 ratio, which means that a 1-oz bottle is extracted from about 6 grams of dry herb. In Chinese medicine, rehmannia is used in larger doses, up to 60 grams per day! So using a tincture would not only be quite expensive but would require the ingestion of a significant amount of alcohol.

Personally, my favorite source for Chinese herb extracts is Treasure of the East, the American distributor for Tianjiang Pharmaceutical. I get them from Acupuncture Atlanta:

http://www.acuatlanta.net/


You can also buy bulk shu di huang if you're interested in making your own decoctions.

http://www.goldenneedleonline.com/Shu-Di-Huang-Lab-Tested.html
https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/rehmannia-root/profile

 

[wintersky]

@Nelly Lenz Hi Nelly. While i have eaten bottled Rhemannia 6 multiple times before, my experience was limited to multiple brands in local stores, not online. Note what Invisiblejungle says too.

Note the contraindications nature for Rhemannia as it's the most important herb in Rhemannia 6 formula. Rhemannia 6 is only for people who dont suffer significant Dampness & Deficiency Heat. Personally, i always cook my own formulas for all herbs as i like the option to self-adjust myself.

Wish you all a Good Day Ahead,
Wintersky

 

[Violeta]

Thank you for this thread, @wintersky . I appreciate your willingness to share what you have learned about TCM. It's a very complicated subject, and your knowledge is greatly appreciated.


And I just went into the basement to dig out my Tao of Healthy Eating.

 

[Violeta]

@wintersky

Hi Invisible,

Double-Boiled Soups refers to the method of preparation where a ceramic pot is put in a steamer & under slow boiling for many hours. This would take place anywhere from 5 hours to 2 days (for high end restaurants). What i do is a simpler version, using a electronic slow cooker for 5 hours or so at low/moderate heat.

I would, also, using the slow cooking method/stewing, eat just porridge or rice cooked with vegetables cut into small pieces etc. Yes, it's akin to feeding a baby very soft cooked foods. This was mostly my main mode of food preparation everyday for many months & it does amazing wonders for my weak stomach +digestion +low appetite due to spleen/stomach deficiency etc.

In ancient China, when people were too weak or had so weak stomachs they were unable to consume even any amount of herbal decoctions or solid foods, they would just drink the double boiled soups & give them stewed solid foods only if they had improvements.

Wish you all a Good Day Ahead,
Wintersky

Hello @wintersky This type of cooking sounds like it would help me greatly right now. I also need a TCM doctor, but don't know of any good ones in my area. In the meantime I would like to start with healing my digestion or at least giving it a break. Would you mind listing what you would combine in a of recipe for double boiled soup, and a combination of vegetables that would be good for eating with cooked rice. What type of rice is generally recommended, well, I have read about using white rice, but would short grain, medium grain, long grain, or basmati be better? And what do you eat for protein?

Thank you,

 

[wintersky]

@Violeta Thank you for your kind words.

In TCM for poor digestion (or low appetite), there's 4 typical/commonly seen (non-emergency) TCM patterns: "Stomach Yin Deficiency", "Spleen Qi Deficiency", "Spleen Yang Deficiency" & "Spleen Damp Cold/Heat", each type with their differing issues & relevant diet which you can read here (in bottom part of the Itmonline weblink below):

http://www.itmonline.org/5organs/spleen.htm

If you do visit a TCM doctor, it might be a good idea to ask which diet guideline you ought to follow. This is because while it may be safe to eat foods with "neutral" properties, it doesnt help progress one's individual condition very much.

http://www.eastmountain.ca/9stomachyin.pdf
http://www.eastmountain.ca/2spleenqi.pdf
http://www.eastmountain.ca/3spleenyang.pdf

Personally, during my sickness period, i took white rice congee. In TCM, white rice congee is said to be the safest bet for people with any type of digestion issues, but it's said to be not as nourishing as Brown Rice + it also makes one feel hungry quite often (less net displacement weight than eating cooked rice), so one would have to eat more. The said TCM idea here for people with poor digestion is to eat small amounts every hour (when one is not sleeping that is).

Personally, im thinking of what Mij said about brown rice. Brown rice is said to have neutral properties + very nourishing in TCM, but i find that slow-cooking it just 4 hours (what i do sometimes nowadays) doesnt do it enough justice (with stronger nourishment for net energy improvement via better digestability). Mij's idea gave me more food for thought & im thinking of slow-cooking partially-milled Brown Rice for up to 12 hours or more, which i believe would be easily digestable & highly nourishing even for people with digestive issues.

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...radical-rare-tcm-treatment.42814/#post-693004

& yes, despite a cursory read-through, i personally find Bob Flaw's book to be very accurate. At least for about 30+ items i have personal experience eating with (not inclusive of theoretical), my personal observations match 100% with his (with regards to the food item's observed TCM-framework properties).

Wish you all a Good Day Ahead,
Wintersky

 

[Violeta]

@wintersky , thank you for the recommendations. I have discontinued dairy, and actually eggs, too, and started eating soft cooked short grain white rice and pouring chicken broth over it, small amounts ~6 times a day. I haven't been able to eat beans or meat to any extent for a long time, but I am hoping that eating very small amounts in this manner works, because one does need some protein. I ate brown rice for many years until I could no longer digest just about anything. A Chinese Med practitioner told me that white rice would be preferred, and it took me many years and many retrials of brown rice to come to terms with it, but I am convinced I need white rice. Yesterday was about my third or fourth day with very reduced dairy and I slept much better last night, kidneys are working better today, and my sore throat is almost completely gone. I take reishi and hope that will get me by for now. Thank you for your help, and I will be following this thread.

 

[roller]

its some thousands of years old.

what nutrition advice could TCM have given to ppl in China?
rice or rice..
there was surely no way to recommend chicken, as this wasnt affordable.

early medicine in the east and west was based on the stuff ppl had available.
so, it may be suboptimal.

 

[Violeta]

A quick update, several days ago when I changed my diet to well cooked white rice and chicken soup I could only eat less than 4 ounces of rice (pre-cooked measurement) spread throughout the day. Now I am able to eat a little bit more than 4 ounces, and today I added a stir fry. I am still having improved sleep, although my sore throat was returning at night, perhaps due to eating too much chicken.

 

[Bdeep86]

@wintersky i'm sorry if i missed it in this thread. But what was your diagnosis with TCM? Spleen Qi? Liver Stagnation? Do you not know what formulas were used for you?

 

[wintersky]

@wintersky i'm sorry if i missed it in this thread. But what was your diagnosis with TCM? Spleen Qi? Liver Stagnation? Do you not know what formulas were used for you?

Hi Bdeep86,

I do not know exactly what I was given back then. The doctors I went to were renowned in my country but the kind who didn't share formulas

On the personal side, with my current TCM knowledge, I do recognize I had multiple issues back then such as Kidney Deficiency (cold limbs), Liver Qi stagnation (depression) & Spleen(bad digestion) & Phlegm issues (severe brain fog to the extent I couldn't even remember my own name sometimes) etc. But as to which issue was targeted or maybe all at the same time, I do not have an answer for you.

Good Day,
Wintersky

 

[Guwop2]

Hi @wintersky and others who've havd some expereince with TCM. Im currently in a bit of a pickle regarding it and need some advice - ill try my best to keep this very simple.

I started LDN but began to experience more severe M.E symptoms (more sensitive PEM) including having may glands constantly raised - a symptom i only remember from when i first became ill. Stopped LDN

Started a TCM formula to combat reaction to LDN ( the formula was: Bai Xian Pi, Dan Shen, Dang Gui, Gan Cao, Sheng Di Huang, Tu Fu Ling and Xiang Fu) which got rid of swollen glands and bad PEM. Previous uses of TCM had me on them for about week (used after a reaction to a vaccine, for example) and this calmed things down enough for me to discontinue with it and see a return to baseline without having to take any medicine. This TCM formula puts me in a hypnotic dream-like state - and ive been on it for over a month. It is very unpleasant.

I stopped TCM treatment, thinking my body would have recovered (like in my previous uses of TCM), but no. Glands swell up aggressivey again and fierce PEM returns.

My scientifically ignorant guesses as to what is happening are 2 things:

1. The LDN has disrupted my health very badly and the TCM creates temporary respite, whilst inducing unpleasant cognitive side-effects. TCM, unlike previous expereinces, has not helped the phase of this crash evolve.

2. Ive cought a virus or have an infection that some of the antiviral properties of the TCM formula are suppressing - which when I come off the TCM they simply return (i have no idea if this is how things work). In my panic ive had multiple sexual health screening and standard blood tests - both RNA tests (that test for genetic material of the infection/disease), as well as anitbody test - that test (I understand) for the replication of virus material. All these come back negative, but my concern is that the TCM formula is blocking these things from showing in a test - Tu Fu Ling (Smilax Glabra) and Shen Di Huang (Rehmannia Glutinosa) are apparently antivirals (they can treat syphilis I have read - I have no idea of their effectiveness). I spoke to a TCM practitioner and they said it is unlikley that the TCM formula would be strong enough to create a false-negative result, and the RNA tests show the presence of the illnesses genetic material (they are advised to be taken 10+ days after exposure before the virus/infection starts to replicate). According to these tests I am not infected, but I am tempted to start a course of Penicillin just in case i have an infection of some kind that (like I said) the TCM is blocking. Penicillin, however, could make my health even worse - ive purposely not taken any antibiotics in 7 years (whihc i bleiev has helped me stay at the baseline).

Ultimately im in a limbo state here - coming off of the TCM is painful and staying on it is horrible in a different way.

My plan so far is to have my TCM doctor prescribe me the same formula but without the antiviral herbs (Tu Fu Ling and Shen Di Huan) to see if when on it my glands come up again.

Any sugestions are help would be very much welcomed, i feel a little in over my head.

 

[dannybex]

@Guwop2, If you click on anyone's name, you can see when they last posted. @wintersky hasn't been here since 2017. Hopefully someone else can answer your questions.