About the Author
Main Signs and Symptoms
Past several months he has experienced severe fatigue, night sweating with sensation of bodily heat, needs to change his sleeping clothes 3 times per night and sleep continually disrupted. He has taken the formula zhi bai ba wei wan in the past to treat this condition, but it no longer seems to work. He has had a full medical examination and blood tests but no abnormalities were detected.
Tired appearance, moist skin, feet and hands are cold, pale complexion, slim build.
Pulse: deep-rapid
Tongue: pale with a thin coat
Diagnosis and Treatment
TCM Diagnosis:
Fire due to deficiency of the Kidney Yang and deficiency of the Kidney Yin.
Treatment:
Treatment Principle: Warm-tonify the Kidney Yang and nourish the Kidney Yin to reduce the deficiency Fire
Treatment: Er Xian Tang (Epimedium & Curculigo Combination) for 7 days
Outcome:
One week later, appearance has dramatically improved – has much more Spirit. Patient reported that after 2 days the sweating stopped and after five days he can sleep through the night with no disturbance, his energy levels have returned to normal. I advised him to stop taking the herbs and contact me in one month.
One month later he reported that the symptoms have not returned.
Comments:
Deep sensations of bodily heat with severe sweating and fatigue are described as ‘steaming bone fever’ and are generally due to severe deficiency of the Kidney Yin. However, in this case these symptoms are due to both Yin and Yang deficiency.
The formula Er Xian Tang (Epimedium & Curculigo Combination) is often used for hot flushes with sweating in menopausal women. It is a special formula because it mainly focuses on tonifying the Kidney Yang, and treats deficiency Fire that has arisen mostly due to Kidney Yang deficiency. This case illustrates that, providing the TCM differential diagnosis is correct, this formula can be just as effective in males.