Sun Simiao has a discussion on this medicine in his "Qianjin Fang": "The pulse is the way of blood, and if you gain qi, you will be filled, and if you lose qi, you will be weak." This recipe fills the blood tract with qi replenishment, and the pulse qi is restored, so it is called Shengmai Drink. ”
As soon as you look at this note, you can see that this is a qi tonic medicine, and the "pulse" mentioned in Chinese medicine is not a vein as Western medicine says, at least not just a vein, but a way to circulate qi and blood without a substance. This path cannot be filled with blood alone, there must be qi, that is, this blood cannot be dead blood, it is not enough to replenish body fluids through intravenous infusion, but to have functional blood.
A few years ago, a patient was hospitalized with a cerebral thrombosis, and his blood pressure was very low when he was brought to the hospital. Intravenous infusion is started as soon as you arrive at the hospital to fill the veins and restore blood pressure. At the onset of the disease, his face suddenly appeared very thin, as if the skin on his face was attached to the muscles, the wrinkles around his ears also increased, and he was very weak and weak.
They went to a traditional Chinese medicine hospital, and the attending doctor was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and as soon as she saw the situation, she immediately prescribed "Shengmai Injection", which is the intravenous infusion dosage form of "Shengmai Drink". As a result, not long after the medicine was injected, the person became energetic, and the skin on his face seemed to be full and energetic. At that time, I really realized the meaning of Sun Simiao's so-called pulse "when you are angry, you are full". The purpose of TCM is to improve the function of the human body, especially the heart and lungs, and restore the pulse qi, rather than just making the veins mechanically filled with fluid.
Sweating profusely can be "sad".
I saw a patient who was weak because of sweating, and he was a retired teacher. The summer when she retired at home was very hot, she was a person who loved to sweat, and she was especially tired that summer, and as a result, she felt tired as soon as she walked, and she sweated even more when she walked. She also knew that she was sweating, but she couldn't suppress the sweat no matter what, at first it was because of the heat, but then it was autumn, and the sweat still couldn't stop. So I went to see a Chinese medicine doctor, and the conclusion I got was very reminding everyone, and the doctor said that she was "sweating and depleting her heart qi".
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "sweat is the liquid of the heart", which can be seen that Chinese medicine cherishes sweat, and also implies that sweating will be "sad". The reason why the retired teacher in front of him was wheezing was not because of his lungs, but because of his heart function injury, which was "heart-lung qi deficiency". The heart and lungs are responsible for the transport of oxygen at the same time, but the heart is the source of energy for the lungs and is the driving force.
Sweating is a type of dehydration, and the consequences of dehydration are serious because the loss of water will take away the electrolytes in the blood, affecting the balance of electrolytes, which will directly affect the quality of the blood. The reason why the nerves and muscles of our body can move normally is because of the electrolytes in the blood.
There was also a patient who couldn't stand the heat on a hot day, so he went to take a cold shower, but he had a high fever at night, and he didn't get rid of the fever after taking antipyretics, and he increased the dose, and finally sweated profusely, and the fever went away, but when he got up from the bed, he collapsed on the ground, and his limbs were as soft as cotton. The family was frightened, how to cure the fever and cure the paralysis?
Hurry to the hospital, and meet a young doctor on duty, a paralyzed look suspected that there is a problem with the spinal cord, is opening a CT application form to ask them to check, the duty director came, asked about the situation at that time to cancel the CT list, immediately went to check a blood potassium, a look at the results, much lower than normal. The blood potassium of a normal person is 3.5~5.5 mol/L, and he is only 1.5 mol/L. Only then did I know that the problem was in his sweating, which was the "hypokalemia" caused by sweating, and immediately intravenous potassium supplementation made the person feel energetic, and the symptoms of paralysis disappeared, and the family was relieved.
Potassium is an essential trace element for the human body, although it is in small amounts, it can determine life and death. I met a patient who was deficient in potassium, before because of diarrhea, a little dehydrated, on the way to the hospital, when crossing the street, suddenly could not walk, the brain is very clear, but the body is soft, like paralysis. The car that drove in front of him was not prepared at all and almost crashed, and the people on the side carried him across the road and took him to the hospital, where it was found that it was also the cause of low blood potassium.
Potassium can enhance the excitability of human nerves and muscles, can maintain the normal function of nerves and muscles, when it is sufficient, people will not be weak, it is reduced, immediately show muscle soreness, relaxation and even paralysis, especially the lower limbs are the most obvious, called "potassium deficiency paralysis", the sudden paralysis patient in the process of crossing the road is a typical. In severe cases, it will also affect the respiratory muscles and heart muscles, causing respiratory muscle paralysis, dyspnea and severe arrhythmias.
As the saying goes, "blood and sweat are of the same origin", and "Lingshu" also says that "those who take blood do not sweat, and those who take sweat do not have blood", which means that people who have been bleeding are afraid of sweating if they are treated, and people who sweat a lot do not need to use bloodletting therapy. Because whether it is sweat or blood, it will take away the energy of the body, and it will also take away the blood potassium, leaving the person in a weak state, so it cannot be lost overlappingly.
If you sweat profusely or have diarrhea to the point of dehydration, although it is not to the point of limp paralysis, you will feel that you have no strength at all, and if you are a child, it may be more dangerous, and it will be life-threatening because of dehydration. At this time, if you want to take effect immediately, you should directly take a kind of "oral rehydration salt", which is also sold in pharmacies, which contains very key electrolytes such as potassium, sodium and glucose.
At the same time, do not drink too much boiled water or sugar water immediately after sweating a lot, but drink some fruit juice or sugar and salt water, especially orange juice, which is the fastest to replenish potassium, and tea also contains potassium, so drinking tea in summer to relieve the heat, that is, to prevent sweating from reducing blood potassium excessively, bananas in fruits are also rich in potassium.
When all this is very stable, it is time to eat "Shengmai Drink" to make up for the loss of qi caused by sweating, otherwise people will be empty.
The only tonic that can be taken in the summer
The retired teacher, who is prone to sweating, should actually eat Shengmai drink at the beginning of summer, so as not to sweat profusely and lead to the loss of blood potassium.
Shengmai Drink is composed of three herbs: ginseng, wheat winter, and schisandra.
Ginseng is a qi tonic, wheat winter is yin, schisandra chinensis is sour, and the sour medicines in traditional Chinese medicine have an astringent effect, which can converge the heart qi dissipated by sweat, and "throttle" at the same time as "open source".
Sun Simiao in his "Preparation for Emergencies", he especially recommended the schisandra in the shengmai drink: use schisandra to nourish the heart qi in May, because May belongs to fire and the heart, and the heart qi is easy to dissipate. Don't underestimate the small recipe composed of these three medicines, the intravenous solution extracted from it can be used to treat shock.
Many people may not understand and think that they can't take tonic medicine in summer, and tonic medicine will "catch fire". This view is only half true, and the complete view about the nourishment season is "spring and summer to nourish yang, autumn and winter to nourish yin". That is to say, you should still take qi-tonifying medicine in spring and summer, and it is suitable to take medicine to replenish blood and yin in autumn and winter. Why?
First of all, because the drugs that replenish blood are greasy, such as ejiao, rehmannia and the like, if you are a person with a bad appetite, you can't eat it casually even in autumn and winter, at least on the premise that the tongue coating is very clean; If the tongue coating is still very thick, then you should take Erchen pills for a few days first, clean the stomach and intestines, and regulate the digestive system, otherwise you will not be able to absorb it after eating.
Why is it possible to eat something so indigestible after autumn? Because autumn is the season of sealing, the yang energy is also hidden, and the yang energy of the human body is mainly distributed in the body, so it is easy to catch a cold in autumn and winter, because the yang energy cannot take care of the outside; But in autumn and winter, people's appetite tends to be good, because the yang energy hidden in it helps the digestive function. Therefore, you can start taking medicine to replenish blood and yin at this time. Just like the trees we see, irrigation is carried out during the dormant period in autumn and winter, which is to use the season when the yang energy is stored in it to replenish physical strength.
When waiting for the spring and summer of the next year, the body's qi and blood are mainly concentrated on the body surface, and the body is empty, so it is rare to catch a cold in summer, but the appetite is generally not good, and there will even be a "bitter summer". Moreover, diarrhea and enteritis are easy to occur in summer, because the internal qi and blood are insufficient, and they are unable to digest food, and the slightest carelessness will bring discomfort.
At this time, qi and blood are also the easiest to dissipate, because they float on the surface and are easily consumed by the heat, so summer nourishment is also very important, and Shengmai drink is the only tonic that can be taken in summer. Especially people with qi deficiency physique, this kind of person not only loves to sweat in summer, but also is afraid of wind in winter, and is particularly prone to colds, all kinds of signs are caused by qi deficiency can not protect the body surface.
Even if there is no problem with sweating, but there is a problem with arrhythmia, this kind of person is very common in women, who are very thin and weak, and if they have an electrocardiogram, it may be "sinus arrhythmia" or "conduction block". Either way, after committing illness, people will become very weak, their waists can't be straightened, and they always feel that their qi is not enough, and they are as weak as Xi Shi who "holds the heart", which is a typical qi deficiency. This deficiency, in turn, aggravates the condition, resulting in a vicious circle, in which qi deficiency and arrhythmia are mutually causal. At this time, Shengmai drink is very suitable, and the replenished heart qi can deter the abnormal heart rhythm and interrupt this vicious circle.
For people with qi deficiency, easy sweating, easy fatigue, and qi weakness, there are two medicines that need to be taken frequently, one is Shengmai Drink, and the other is Yuping Fengsan, which is sold in pharmacies called Yuping Feng Oral Liquid.
Shengmai drink is used to replenish the body after being consumed by hot summer or labor; Jade Screen Oral Liquid is suitable for taking before the beginning of autumn, because after autumn, the pores of the human body should be gradually closed to prevent the invasion of cold evil, and it is safer to block a "screen" at this time.
This medicine is also very simple, and it is also a three-flavor medicine, astragalus, atractylodes, and parsnip. The first two flavors are to replenish the spleen and lungs, and the wind has the effect of resisting the invasion of wind evil, which is combined to help those who are easy to catch a cold and have a deficiency of qi, and to build a protective "screen" outside the body surface, which can prevent excessive sweating and prevent yang energy from being consumed again, and secondly, to improve the body's ability to resist wind and cold, that is, to improve the body's immunity. Therefore, when infectious diseases such as influenza occur, for those who are usually prone to colds, the value of using "jade screens" is far higher than that of ordinary vaccines or antiviral drugs.
You can make your own raw drink
There are many "ginseng" in traditional Chinese medicine, but the ones that really have the effect of tonifying qi are ginseng, American ginseng, codonopsis, and prince ginseng.
Ginseng has the strongest effect, but there are contraindications in its use, and it is not suitable for people with a slight heat image, and people with yin deficiency or qi and yin deficiency are more dangerous to take, and there is a possibility of further damage to yin. It should be noted that ginseng is generally used in the current Shengmai drink, if the heat is obvious, such as the tongue is very red and thin, it is best to eat homemade Shengmai drink, which is to use 10 grams of American ginseng, wheat Dong, and schisandra chinensis to decoction and drink it by yourself. American ginseng is used instead of ginseng in Chinese patent medicine, because American ginseng is peaceful in nature, can take into account both qi and yin, and can even clear the void and fire, even in summer.
American ginseng can also be eaten alone, although it does not have the effect of sweating, but it can still replenish qi and yin. Nowadays, American ginseng has slices and whole ginseng, and the slices can be brewed directly with boiling water, and the ginseng slices can be chewed and eaten when there is no taste of ginseng in the water like drinking tea.
If it is a whole ginseng, it is best to steam it through water: put the American ginseng in a small bowl, cover it with water, then put the bowl in the steamer, add water to the pot, steam until the texture of the ginseng becomes soft, then drink the ginseng water, and then brew it again with boiling water. It should be noted that whether it is brewing or steaming, it is best to cover the bowl or cup where the ginseng is placed with a lid to avoid the components of the ginseng from volatilizing with the steam, which can better preserve the medicinal effect of American ginseng.
There is also a ginseng called "prince ginseng". Now there is a word called "copycat", which means that after a genuine product comes out, someone imitates it. Prince's ginseng is the "copycat version" of American ginseng, because Prince's ginseng can invigorate qi and rejuvenate Jin, and belongs to the tonic that takes into account both yin and yang, but the overall strength is definitely weaker than that of American ginseng, but the price is cheap, and it is also an effective substitute.
Directions:
Shengmai Drink is an oral liquid, and it is also formulated into a liquid to absorb quickly. The routine is to take one tablet two to three times a day, before meals. If the person is obviously deficient, you can increase the amount appropriately, and you can add it to two sticks at a time.
Traditional Chinese medicine has a saying that "radish is anti-ginseng", because radish is broken qi and stagnate, and people who need to eat ginseng are generally qi deficiency, normal people eat radish that is nothing, and people with qi deficiency can eat their already very weak vitality, so they do not let radish and ginseng eat at the same time, not because there is any chemical reaction, but to eliminate the tonic qi of ginseng.
People who eat Shengmai drink also have this problem, they are also because of qi deficiency, so in terms of diet, radish should be eaten as little as possible.