Posted by Hombre on September 5, 2010, at 9:51:32
In reply to Re: TCM » Hombre, posted by sigismund on September 5, 2010, at 1:47:04
> Yeah, I've found that link...it's great.
>
> I need to read it all carefully. Then there's the xe(??) sequences. I forget, whatever it is.Hmm. Me too.
> Some thoughts......
>
> My experience has been that herbs in combination are much more effective, even though it has often been more convenient to take them singly......in particular, zizyphus in combinations is stronger than zizyphus alone.Right. I think certain helper herbs are good at supporting and directing the main herbs to where they need to go. Perhaps they have some effect at a chemical level to potentiate the active ingredients. It's beyond me at this point, and I think for the most part we don't need to worry about how it works. We know that the formulas do what they're supposed to do - just like we know marinara sauce works to make pasta taste good. In my mind, I don't think about the individual ingredients in a formula, and I've read that we should think of formulas as an entity itself. We can even mix formulas based on how they work without worrying too much about how much of each individual herb is represented. I am currently taking 3 formulas on a daily basis and I feel more normal than I've ever felt. That's on top of the psyche drugs. Herbs are more like food than medicine.
> I have my doubts as to whether I should take ginseng.
My take on ginseng is that it is good if you are just getting over an illness and your body is very weak. You can make a good ginseng chicken soup with red dates for a nice tonic meal - maybe once a month during the cold months to boost your energy and fend off illness and fatigue. But you can take codonopsis on a daily basis and your only concern would be how to mix it with food to make it tasty and maybe taking a break once in a while.
> I've been told several times that I am spleen deficient (apparently we in the west mostly are?), yin deficient, kidney yin deficient. Then there's my liver. Too much damp heat.
I feel you on the spleen deficiency - this has been a problem of mine since I was a kid (in hindsight). I was super skinny, underweight, didn't have much appetite, and would get tired very easily. I couldn't even swim because it was too exhausting. I probably didn't eat enough and would get strange stomachaches that would sometimes bring me home from school. In addition to having a weak constitution, I think I suffered from emotional problems that exacerbated the already weak spleen system. I tended to obsess over things. That's a spleen symptom. So was the fact that I was a stick. Now I can swim, lift weights in moderation and run. Maybe part of it is just getting older, but my body is different than it was when I was in my 20s - I slowly became skinny-fat and thought I'd always have a pot belly and couldn't participate in vigorous physical activity.
In my adult years, I experienced acute spleen deficiency from stacking extreme exercise on top of too much sex. The kidneys also participate in the digestion of food and production of blood and energy. My muscles became very weak, I had headaches (I never get headaches) and I had diarrhea for several days on end. I had never had more than the occasional bout of diarrhea from food poisoning or bad diet. After somehow coming across the symptoms of spleen deficiency online, I ordered some Plumflower herbal tablets and eventually found relief. That really made me feel like there was something to Chinese herbal medicine. Too bad I was too depressed and cloudy minded to follow up and try to treat my depression.
I think I also have congenitally weak kidneys. My mother may have had cancer when I was conceived and born and that may have weakened her body and thus I may not have received enough nourishment and energy. The Chinese believe the state of the mother and father at conception will affect your Jing - your genes, your potential, your development, and your ability to withstand stress.
The weak kidneys express themselves as not being very confident, getting tired after sex, and a poor response to stress. They also manifest as having a hard time turning ideas into concrete action. A lack of willpower despite having been blessed with several talents. The frustration of not being able to nurture these talents made me feel really confused and angry with myself. It really baffled me that I could not do what others could do: have the drive to work at something until, in time, it developed into a real skill. Like playing guitar for several years and eventually writing some songs and starting a band. Or knowing enough about computers to eventually write more and more complex programs. I would always have the talent to start off strong, but lacked the grit to keep at it. I could not seem to put things together in a complex way. I was stuck at the beginner level despite being as smart as the next guy and working hard. Not special, mind you, just having my own set of gifts like everyone else does.
I only started to think that it was not a lack of character when I achieved some remission from depression for the first time a couple of years ago. This was on an antidepressant, a benzo and a sleep aid. It was a rocky sort of response, and there were some serious problems with impulse control and knowing my limits, but it was like I was suddenly able to do a lot of things I'd always wanted to do but just didn't get around to.
After I crashed and burned after getting off meds, I found a better combination of meds and lucked into Chinese herbs again. After taking a kidney tonic for a month or so, I really found myself having the ability to want to do something and then do it. It seems so natural, and yet it had eluded me for so long. That's when I really started to think that I had been living with some serious deficiencies for a long time. Of course the meds are doing a lot; I won't dare get off them until I'm cruising with a good job and I've gained enough confidence in my non-depressed self to take it to the next level. But I feel more confident knowing that there is another paradigm that can help me. It isn't an either/or of taking meds or not. I've learned a lot about supplements and herbs this time around and I know I will never have it as bad as I had it from 2008-9 where I was living in a perpetual state of emergency, exhaustion and fear.
Sorry for the rant. I just wanted to share more of my experience. I hope you can see some parallels that may give you some good ideas.
poster:Hombre
thread:961091
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20100812/msgs/961355.html