01-08-2011, 12:00 AM
Ok, a thread here about this topic. I only have a few expereinces to add. Being in China I suppose it'd seem I'd have a lot to say about all the kinds of medicine...but in truth, even a Chinese will tell you...all medicine is poison. While it restores balanced, it also is introducing a foreign element and the best thing is to not need any medicine at all. But they say that when you do need medicine, TCM is the best, mildest aiding balance restoration.
There's good and bad though...animal endangerment is one draw back...unfortunate indeed. The laws are getting stricter. The good is TCM is probably better on the body than western medicine, just its more gradual, organic and takes longer...losing some popularity due to that.
My experiences are first I asked a friend to to take me to a local TCM for a condition I suffered from since age 30 and no one has been able to diagnose...the main symptom I noticed initially was hair loss. Luckily I had ALOT of hair to begin with, so you cannot tell unless you knew me before. But it was real scary around age 30-33 lots of hair just falling falling. My hair was one of my nicest qualities...long, silky reddish brown...can you tell I miss it? Ok, its still here, I'm not bald, lol. I just stopped styling my hair I got so sad about it. But the real thing is WHAT was causing it. Western doctors told me its stress. Well, I stopped working and the condition stayed. They tried to tell me again its stress and I said this time, NO, I have no stress. Then they tried to give me a prescription medicine, I threw it away. Frustrated. In US I bought a book on Chinese herbs and went to this Chinatown area near our home and bought the medicine for such symptoms...took that for a while, but still no change.
The hair loss slowed down, but still not reversing the condition. Here in China...back to what I said before, I asked to see a real TCM doctor, so a Chinese friend took me to a place all the locals go and they refused to see me because they said westerners have sued them in the past. Too bad. So my friend took me to another place, friendly to tourists, and obviously over-priced and more man-made, pill-form stuff. May have slowed the condition down a bit but actually I don't think the doctor there, a TCM doctor, diagnosed me correctly.
So, it was just recently, that by chance...I was not planning it, that another friend and I were at this temple I guess it was...a museum run by local Buddhists that I had a chance to be looked at by a TCM doctor again, this time a monk, more ideal of course. So he looked at my palm very very briefly, then said it was my spleen...too much Yin (coolness) and dampness (as opposed to dryness). So this is how they diagnose and how they determine whats blocking Qi. He called off my symptoms...cold hands and feet, slower digestion, poor circulation...all true. I have the blood pressure of a marathon runner, not becasue I run marathons but because my whole system is cooled and slowing down. He told me its that my body needs heat, my blood needs heat. He said I am still very healthy, but I need to take care of this imbalance for future. Soon my kidneys will be more burdened if it continues. He then told me what to take: Dong Chong Xia Cao. He also told me eating raw food was not good for me...salads and fruit. Interesting because a western doctor would say to eat more of these. But TCM doctor was referring to the extreme coolness that needed to be counter balanced by heat.
The tonic he sold was too expensive, but he told me it was THE BEST. Still I wanted to take my chances. My Chinese friend told me its a very common tonic so we could look for it elsewhere. I again didn't plan to look for it during my trip...but I went into this knife store and the lady there, amazingly pulled this bag of dried caterpillars out and showed them to me. My friend said "that's the tonic!" And I realized I had seen this everywhere. This is indeed a popular medicine...I would not call it a tonic though due to its literally caterpillars dried up...you can see them. Well, I asked her how much for one month supply and it turned out much cheaper than the monk's price. Since I was still in Yunnan, I figured this version was probably very good too, due to being in a rural area. I brought it and asked how to take it. You grind it up into a powder and add it to food or boiling water. She offered to grind it for me.
Ok, later in the trip, a Tibetan guide and I are talking. I tell him abotu what I am taking. He looks at me funny...and says "but, why you take that, that's for making the man stronger for his wife." He meant stamina in the bedroom. I had to laugh. His face looked surprised. My friend chimed in and said "yes but its also good for the kidneys" which he agreed. In truth, many uses for this tonic. He may only know the main one in his area.
So yesterday I tried it for the first time. Put just a little in a cup of hot water. It tasted like dirt, but otherwise not bad or bitter. I noticed immediately that yes, even for woman this could be an aphrodisiac, especially if you take a lot...I only am supposed to take a bit every 3 days for a month. What it does is it has an extreme heating property, unlike anything...and you feel your blood flow increase, which explains how it affects men's stamina. I was wondering how long the effect lasts and got my answer last night. Normally I sleep with socks on my feet because they get cold. Well, this time both my feet and hands were very warm when I awoke, as was the case all through the night.
So that's basically about this tonic particularly, and TCM in general. If you do buy any TCM, try to buy the organic. Check for lead...a common additive. And they say you should always see a TCM doctor first. But I say, something you can self diagnose, such as if you suffer from coolness like I do, you pretty much know it because your circulation will tell you, in which case you need to heat your bloodstream to improve flow of Chi.
This is what the tonic looks like when bought organically:
Its also called cordycepts, but if you are looking to buy...do NOT buy pill form in bottle. I tried that. Only buy the real caterpillar...go to Chinatown to get it to or over the internet, ask for Dong Chong Xia Cao.
I don't know a whole lot about TCM, but these are some of my expereinces and hope they are of use to anyone interested. The nice part about TCM medicine is its about balance of Yin and Yang energies, cool and heat, wet and dry on and on. Its always a gradual process, so it takes time to take the medicine and see its effects. In my case, a month.
There's good and bad though...animal endangerment is one draw back...unfortunate indeed. The laws are getting stricter. The good is TCM is probably better on the body than western medicine, just its more gradual, organic and takes longer...losing some popularity due to that.
My experiences are first I asked a friend to to take me to a local TCM for a condition I suffered from since age 30 and no one has been able to diagnose...the main symptom I noticed initially was hair loss. Luckily I had ALOT of hair to begin with, so you cannot tell unless you knew me before. But it was real scary around age 30-33 lots of hair just falling falling. My hair was one of my nicest qualities...long, silky reddish brown...can you tell I miss it? Ok, its still here, I'm not bald, lol. I just stopped styling my hair I got so sad about it. But the real thing is WHAT was causing it. Western doctors told me its stress. Well, I stopped working and the condition stayed. They tried to tell me again its stress and I said this time, NO, I have no stress. Then they tried to give me a prescription medicine, I threw it away. Frustrated. In US I bought a book on Chinese herbs and went to this Chinatown area near our home and bought the medicine for such symptoms...took that for a while, but still no change.
The hair loss slowed down, but still not reversing the condition. Here in China...back to what I said before, I asked to see a real TCM doctor, so a Chinese friend took me to a place all the locals go and they refused to see me because they said westerners have sued them in the past. Too bad. So my friend took me to another place, friendly to tourists, and obviously over-priced and more man-made, pill-form stuff. May have slowed the condition down a bit but actually I don't think the doctor there, a TCM doctor, diagnosed me correctly.
So, it was just recently, that by chance...I was not planning it, that another friend and I were at this temple I guess it was...a museum run by local Buddhists that I had a chance to be looked at by a TCM doctor again, this time a monk, more ideal of course. So he looked at my palm very very briefly, then said it was my spleen...too much Yin (coolness) and dampness (as opposed to dryness). So this is how they diagnose and how they determine whats blocking Qi. He called off my symptoms...cold hands and feet, slower digestion, poor circulation...all true. I have the blood pressure of a marathon runner, not becasue I run marathons but because my whole system is cooled and slowing down. He told me its that my body needs heat, my blood needs heat. He said I am still very healthy, but I need to take care of this imbalance for future. Soon my kidneys will be more burdened if it continues. He then told me what to take: Dong Chong Xia Cao. He also told me eating raw food was not good for me...salads and fruit. Interesting because a western doctor would say to eat more of these. But TCM doctor was referring to the extreme coolness that needed to be counter balanced by heat.
The tonic he sold was too expensive, but he told me it was THE BEST. Still I wanted to take my chances. My Chinese friend told me its a very common tonic so we could look for it elsewhere. I again didn't plan to look for it during my trip...but I went into this knife store and the lady there, amazingly pulled this bag of dried caterpillars out and showed them to me. My friend said "that's the tonic!" And I realized I had seen this everywhere. This is indeed a popular medicine...I would not call it a tonic though due to its literally caterpillars dried up...you can see them. Well, I asked her how much for one month supply and it turned out much cheaper than the monk's price. Since I was still in Yunnan, I figured this version was probably very good too, due to being in a rural area. I brought it and asked how to take it. You grind it up into a powder and add it to food or boiling water. She offered to grind it for me.
Ok, later in the trip, a Tibetan guide and I are talking. I tell him abotu what I am taking. He looks at me funny...and says "but, why you take that, that's for making the man stronger for his wife." He meant stamina in the bedroom. I had to laugh. His face looked surprised. My friend chimed in and said "yes but its also good for the kidneys" which he agreed. In truth, many uses for this tonic. He may only know the main one in his area.
So yesterday I tried it for the first time. Put just a little in a cup of hot water. It tasted like dirt, but otherwise not bad or bitter. I noticed immediately that yes, even for woman this could be an aphrodisiac, especially if you take a lot...I only am supposed to take a bit every 3 days for a month. What it does is it has an extreme heating property, unlike anything...and you feel your blood flow increase, which explains how it affects men's stamina. I was wondering how long the effect lasts and got my answer last night. Normally I sleep with socks on my feet because they get cold. Well, this time both my feet and hands were very warm when I awoke, as was the case all through the night.
So that's basically about this tonic particularly, and TCM in general. If you do buy any TCM, try to buy the organic. Check for lead...a common additive. And they say you should always see a TCM doctor first. But I say, something you can self diagnose, such as if you suffer from coolness like I do, you pretty much know it because your circulation will tell you, in which case you need to heat your bloodstream to improve flow of Chi.
This is what the tonic looks like when bought organically:
Its also called cordycepts, but if you are looking to buy...do NOT buy pill form in bottle. I tried that. Only buy the real caterpillar...go to Chinatown to get it to or over the internet, ask for Dong Chong Xia Cao.
I don't know a whole lot about TCM, but these are some of my expereinces and hope they are of use to anyone interested. The nice part about TCM medicine is its about balance of Yin and Yang energies, cool and heat, wet and dry on and on. Its always a gradual process, so it takes time to take the medicine and see its effects. In my case, a month.