Evodia Decoction

Evodia Decoction

Euodiae Fructus (Wu Zhu Yu) 1 sheng (9g), Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma (Ren Shen) 3 liang (9g), Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens (Sheng Jiang) 6 liang (18g), Jujubae Fructus (Da Zao) 12 pcs (4 pieces)

Decoct these four medicinals with seven sheng of water, boil the decoction until two sheng of water is left, remove the dregs. Take the warm decoction three times a day. (Modern use: prepare as a decoction.)

Warms the center and supplements deficiency, directs counterflow downward and arrests vomiting.

Wu Zhu Yu Tang is indicated for patterns of liver and stomach deficiency-cold with the upward reversal of turbid yin. The pattern is characterized by nausea after meals, acid regurgitation, belching, drooling of cold frothy saliva, fullness in the chest, stomach pain, vertex headache, aversion to cold, cold limbs with reversal counterflow cold of the four limbs, diarrhea, vexation and agitation, restlessness, a pale white tongue body and a white, slippery tongue coating, and a deep, wiry or slow pulse.

This pattern is caused by deficiency-cold of the liver and stomach and the upward reversal of turbid yin. Due to the deficiency-cold of the liver and stomach, the stomach fails to descend and causes an upward reversal of turbid yin, which causes nausea after meals, acid regurgitation, belching, and drooling of cold frothy saliva. The jueyin channel passes through the stomach, belongs to the liver, and connects upward with the associated du mai at the vertex. The turbid yin of the stomach travels upward along the liver channel to disturb the head, which causes a vertex headache. Fullness of the chest and stomachache are caused by turbid yin obstruction and the disturbance of qi circulation. The body is unable to get warm because of the deficiency-cold of the liver and stomach and yang deficiency, which leads to an aversion to cold and cold limbs. The spleen and stomach are located in the middle jiao. Stomach illness affects the spleen causing the spleen’s failure to ascend the clear, and thus there is diarrhea. The pale tongue body with white tongue coating and the deep, wiry, and slow pulse are due to the deficiency-cold. The proper therapeutic method is to warm the center, supplement deficiency, direct counterflow downward, and arrest vomiting.

1. Essential pattern differentiation Wu Zhu Yu Tang is a common formula used to treat deficiency-cold of the liver and stomach and the counterflow of turbid yin. This clinical pattern is marked by nausea after meals, vertex headache, belching, drooling of frothy saliva, aversion to cold, cold limbs, pale white tongue body and white, slippery tongue coating, wiry, thready, and slow pulse. 2. Modern applications This formula may be used in the following biomedically defined disorders when the patient shows signs of deficiency-cold of the liver and stomach: chronic gastritis, vomiting of pregnancy, nervous vomiting, nervous headache, and aural vertigo. 3. Cautions and contraindications This formula is prohibited for vomiting due to stomach heat or yin deficiency and for headaches due to the hyperactivity of liver yang.

Ginseng ( Panax ginseng ) is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II. Its trade is allowed but subject to licensing controls.