Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 606: Chapter 606: Allergy

Many people saw the young man’s post after he put it on his Moments.

Ma Pengfei, the young man’s friend, had been having a rough time lately.

His entire body was swollen, making him look like an overinflated balloon.

The swelling was particularly bad below his waist; if you pressed a finger into his skin, the indentation would take a long time to disappear.

He had visited several major hospitals in the city, rotating between their nephrology and cardiology departments. He’d taken all sorts of diuretics and hormones, but the effects were always temporary, only treating the symptoms and never the root cause.

Initially, he wasn’t sold on the doctor his friend recommended, Li Xu.

"A Divine Physician? Who’s ever heard of a real Divine Physician these days? It’s all just manufactured hype."

Ma Pengfei said with a sneer, "Those newspaper reports are probably just paid advertorials. I’ve even seen specialists in the Capital City. What can a TCM doctor from some small-time place possibly do?"

However, when he saw that his friend’s persistent hives, which had plagued him for two years, had actually been cured after just a few prescriptions—to the point that even the old scratch marks were scabbing over and peeling off—his conviction wavered.

’Maybe... he’s actually the real deal?’

Filled with a mix of skepticism and hope, Ma Pengfei arrived at the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine early the next morning and registered for a consultation with the specialist, Li Xu.

Inside the consultation room, Li Xu carefully examined Ma Pengfei’s symptoms.

Full-body edema, especially severe below the waist, accompanied by chest fullness and abdominal bloating.

"Do you drink much water?" Li Xu asked.

"Not really. My mouth feels dry, but I have no desire to drink. It’s uncomfortable when I do."

Ma Pengfei answered.

Li Xu then felt his hands and feet. They were ice-cold to the touch, especially his fingertips.

"Do they feel even colder in the mornings and evenings?"

"Exactly! At night, it takes ages for my feet to warm up, even under the covers."

He checked the patient’s tongue. The body of the tongue was pale, with a white, greasy coating.

The pulse was slow and deliberate.

Li Xu had reached a diagnosis.

This was a classic case of Yang Deficiency leading to fluid retention.

The Fire of the Gate of Life was declining, leading to insufficient Kidney Yang, which in turn failed to warm the Spleen Earth;

The Spleen Yang, in turn, became weak and failed in its function of transformation and transportation, causing water and dampness to stagnate internally and overflow into the skin.

The resulting Qi stagnation and fluid retention were the cause of his chest fullness and abdominal bloating.

The treatment principle was clear: warm the Yang and fortify the Spleen, move Qi and promote diuresis.

Li Xu picked up his pen and prescribed a classic formula: a modified version of the Shi Pi Yin from the *Jisheng Fang*.

"Poria Cocos 30g, scorched Atractylodes 15g, Chinese quince 12g, licorice 6g, areca peel 15g, Magnolia Bark 12g, processed aconite root 10g (to be decocted first), Roasted Coix Seed 30g, plantain seed 15g (to be decocted in a bag), dried ginger 6g, and Agarwood 6g."

"Two packs. Decoct one pack in water each day, and drink the warm decoction in two doses, one in the morning and one in the evening."

Ma Pengfei took the prescription and went to have it filled, still feeling deeply skeptical.

Once home, he followed the doctor’s instructions and decocted the herbs.

Although the taste was bitter, he pinched his nose and managed to down half a bowl.

However, just half an hour later.

Ma Pengfei suddenly felt a dull ache in his stomach.

Immediately after, his entire body began to itch for no apparent reason.

He lifted his clothes to take a look and was horrified by what he saw.

His previously smooth skin was now covered in a dense rash of tiny, millet-sized bumps. They were bright red and looked absolutely terrifying.

He also began to feel inexplicably agitated and restless, as if a fire were burning inside him.

At first, he didn’t think much of it, assuming it was a "detox reaction" as the medicine took effect, or perhaps something else he had eaten.

But by the afternoon, his condition had taken a sharp turn for the worse.

The millet-like rash spread rapidly, covering his entire body with an unbearable itch that no amount of scratching could relieve.

He grew restless, unable to sit or lie still. His chest felt as if a heavy boulder were crushing it, making it hard to breathe.

Even more frightening, the pain in his abdomen intensified, his insides gurgled like thunder, and when he rushed to the bathroom, he had a bout of diarrhea that resembled the water used to wash raw meat.

At this, Ma Pengfei flew into a state of utter panic and rage.

"Quack! What kind of bullshit Divine Physician is he? He’s trying to kill me!"

Fighting through the excruciating discomfort, he had his driver race him directly to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Arriving at the hospital, he didn’t even bother to register, simply storming straight into Li Xu’s office.

"You quack! What did you prescribe me? It nearly killed me!"

Ma Pengfei was completely out of control, roaring at the top of his lungs. His outburst drew a crowd of patients and family members from the hallway, who began to gather, point, and whisper.

"This is what passes for a specialist? It’s bad enough that you couldn’t cure me, but you actually made me worse? I’m filing a complaint! I’m going to sue you people!"

The commotion was so loud that it soon attracted the attention of both Lin Guorui and Hu Qiming.

The two men rushed over and were taken aback by the scene unfolding before them.

"Sir, please, calm down. Let’s talk this through properly."

Lin Guorui quickly tried to placate him.

He took the prescription Li Xu had written and scrutinized it.

It was Shi Pi Yin, meant to warm the Yang and promote diuresis. The prescription was perfectly standard, with no conflicting ingredients and moderate dosages.

It was a textbook prescription for the diagnosis!

’How could this have gone wrong?’ Lin Guorui was completely baffled.

Li Xu was just as puzzled.

He was confident in the accuracy of his diagnosis.

He had Ma Pengfei sit down, carefully observing the rash and checking his tongue and pulse again.

Although his pulse was now rapid and forceful, that was a clear sign of panic. The underlying Yang Deficiency pattern hadn’t changed.

’Is this... an allergic reaction to the herbs?’

Li Xu’s brow furrowed as he came to a conclusion.

At these words, Lin Guorui’s expression soured even further.

Allergic reactions to traditional medicine were one of the most frustrating and vexing problems in clinical practice.

A single prescription could contain ten, or even dozens, of different herbs.

These were all-natural plants or minerals with incredibly complex chemical compositions.

Furthermore, every individual’s constitution is different.

Some people are allergic to pollen and others to seafood; it stood to reason that some would be allergic to a specific medicinal herb.

In Western medicine, this is known as an "idiosyncratic reaction."

In a Western-style hospital, a simple blood draw for an allergen test would quickly identify the culprit.

But identifying an allergen using the methods of traditional medicine?

That was a far more complicated affair.

The most common method was elimination by dose reduction: cutting every ingredient’s dosage in half and observing the patient for a day or two.

If there was no improvement, they would reduce it again;

if the patient improved, they would reintroduce the herbs one by one... The entire process could take ten to fifteen days, at a minimum.

Ma Pengfei’s condition was severe—with the diarrhea and labored breathing, they didn’t have the luxury of time for slow, methodical testing.

There was also the "single-herb trial," which involved decocting and ingesting each herb individually.

While accurate, this method was also time-consuming and posed a considerable risk in cases of acute allergic reaction.

In truth, traditional medicine wasn’t entirely ignorant of such phenomena.

Although ancient texts lacked the term "allergy," they categorized such events as "medicinal toxin," "drug rash," or "constitutional intolerance."

The prevailing theory was that the patient’s constitution "clashed" with the inherent properties of a particular herb.

Although Li Xu had never personally encountered such a severe allergic reaction, he didn’t panic.

"Mr. Ma, please, try to stay calm. You have a unique constitution and have had an allergic reaction to one of the herbs in the formula. This was an unforeseen accident, but I will take full responsibility."

Li Xu said with sincerity.

He had to identify the culprit as quickly as possible.

"Bring me the herbs that were prepared this morning," Li Xu said to Hu Qiming.

Soon, a bag of the undeccocted herbs was brought over.

Li Xu opened the paper bag, picked out the herbs one by one, and laid them out on the table.

Poria Cocos, scorched Atractylodes, Chinese quince, licorice, areca peel, Magnolia Bark, processed aconite root, Coix Seed, plantain seed, dried ginger, and Agarwood.

Eleven herbs in total.

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