A thirty-two year
old male patient presented with headaches, which occur every evening. Lately the headaches have been getting quite
severe and are only slightly alleviated when he pounds on his head or after
taking analgesics. When asked when the headaches started he mentioned that he
works as a driver, and last summer when the weather was extremely hot, he would
often drink iced soft drinks or beer on his breaks. Initially there was no
problem but once the autumn arrived, the headaches began. I asked aside from
the headaches, where else he felt discomfort. He mentioned that he also had
black spots in his vision, and would get disorientated at times. His complexion was soot black, his tongue was
pale and tender with a wet, slippery coating, and his pulse was deep, wiry, and
moderate. This is a pattern of yáng vacuity with water exuberance, and turbid
yīn scurrying upwards. When clear yáng is clouded there is dizziness, and when
there is struggle between yīn and yáng, this will result in headaches.
Formula:
fù zǐ (Aconiti
Radix lateralis preparata) 12g
shēng jiāng
(Zingiberis Rhizoma recens) 12g
fú líng (Poria)
18g
bái zhú
(Atractylodis macrocephalae Rhizoma) 9g
zhì gān cǎo
(Glycyrrhizae Radix preparata) 6g
bái sháo (Paeoniae
Radix alba) 9g
guì zhī (Cinnamomi
Ramulus) 6g
After six packages
of the above formula his headaches had decreased substantially. He
was then given four packages of líng guì zhú gān tāng (Poria, Cinnamon Twig,
Atractylodes, and Licorice Decoction) to consolidate the treatment, and
afterwards his condition completely resolved.
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