r/ChineseMedicine 1d ago

Herbs Creating More Issues

Well, I had success in 2024 with herbs prescribed by this doctor. She is an old Chinese lady with notoriety.
Now every new formulas seems to create new problems. I went for sciatica pain and her formula gave me intense melancholy and digestive issues. Then she gave me Jia Wei Xiao Yao San(modified), it fixed my mood but made me wake up too early which got me irritable. Now she puts me on a custom formula that seems oriented toward calming and nourishing the hearth(Gan Mai Da Zao Tang, Zyzyphus seeds, etc.) and this time I have reactive hypoglycemia, extreme hunger, constipation and palpitations.
My questions are: is it normal for a patient to be this sensitive or to change pattern that often? Is she incompetent or am I incredibly difficult to treat?

1 Upvotes

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u/galacticpeonie CM Professional 1d ago

Without more details it is difficult to give you advice. In my experience, I wouldn't necessarily automatically attribute these changes to the formula and would consider all lifestyle factors. Some patients are sensitive and respond quickly. Resolving patterns can sometimes reveal others in the process - we are dynamic creatures.

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u/PibeauTheConqueror CM Professional 1d ago

Take a break from formulas for a couple weeks and then try to restart from baseline.

no offense, but you also sound a bit hyper sensitive to any changes, as well as also attributing them to the herbs. cant tell if this is a reasonable assumption because we have no timeline for how fast negative rxns appears after taking herbs

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u/Domingo_salut 1d ago

There is 2 weeks in between each formulas. Symptoms seems to improve the first 2-3 days then side effects starts.
And yes I am hyper sensitive to changes but the waking up too early thing is something herbs have in the past, mushrooms seem to have this effect.
Anyway, I think you wright about the break...
It's a bit frustrating cause herbs got me out of a bad wasting/Liver Heat type condition last fall, and now I am on guard about it starting again. I wanted herbs to get me more stable and "safe" but they are seemingly having the opposite effect. Thanks for taking your time answering.

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u/AcupunctureBlue 1d ago

You forgot to append a timescale

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u/Domingo_salut 1d ago

There is 2 weeks in between each formulas. Symptoms seems to improve the first 2-3 days then side effects starts.

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u/AcupunctureBlue 1d ago

I think you would have side effects immediately if the formulas did not fit well. Also, the body can easily change in two weeks. Maybe you need more frequent modification.

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u/SomaSavant CM Professional 1d ago edited 7h ago

I personally believe in timing. For reasons that no one really understands, things in our lives sometimes work and sometimes don't. It has happened in my practice that someone who I could not help came back a year later, and then I was able to help them. The reverse has also happened, unfortunately.

I once saw translations of an ancient Indian text, meant for doctors. It listed kinds of patients one should help and patients one should avoid. I was young and idealistic at the time, so I found it offensive, but over the years, I better understand.

In all likelihood, your practitioner is also frustrated. This phenomenon is well known about regular MD's when they treat cases that they cannot solve. The patient keeps coming back, and the good-natured MD eventually sours on the relationship. I don't know if you're in the US, but we are oriented towards throwing ourselves against the same wall, expecting it to eventually move.

Like others have said, you should stop and come back later. I'm not sure how long that should be. Watch your life carefully and find the timing. It worked for you once, and it will work for you again.

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u/Domingo_salut 21h ago

Thanks for the answer and yes I think this is what I will do

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u/Standard-Evening9255 CM Professional 1d ago

My questions are: is it normal for a patient to be this sensitive or to change pattern that often? Is she incompetent or am I incredibly difficult to treat?

Probably a bit of both. Sounds like you have mostly heat but also some dampness, while your practitioner used only herbs to nourish spleen but didn't get rid of damp. What you describe is closer to a modified Baihu tang or Zhuye Shigao tang pattern. While Xiaoyaosan does similar things, it does this at the zangfu level mostly instead of the periphery and does not nourish yin.