Chinese herbal medicine usage and precaution

Chinese herbal medicine(granules) taking method:

  • Pour the right amount of granules into half a cup of hot (boiled)water, stir well and drink it when warm.

Guide：

  • The interval between taking the medicine and meal is at least half an hour, preferably more than 1 hour
  • Do not take the medicine by yourself after the expiry date or take larger dosage without TCM doctor’s instruction
  • Please discard the rest of medicine when you are recovered
  • It is not recommended to take a variety of other Chinese and Western medicines and various health products at the same time during the medication, please consult the doctor

Precaution:

  • Do not take an overdose or expired medication.
  • Avoid serving with juice, tea, coffee, and wine.
  • During taking the medicine, please avoid cold, sticky, greasy, or spicy food, wine, coffee, tea, green beans, dairy products, stinky or smelly food.
  • It is necessary to maintain the regularity of work and rest during the treatment, keep the emotional state stable, have less thinking and reduce the work intensity
  • Try to consume simple and easily digestible foods, such as rice porridge and green vegetables. During illness, give the body sufficient rest and let the body be in a state of active recovery. Thus the herbal medicine can work better.
  • Avoid fatigue and keep temperance.

Please read the following information carefully according to the drug label instructions：

【S】Important precautions for taking exterior-releasing and sweating herbs

  • Do not open windows with convection winds in the living environment after taking the medicine.
  • After taking the medicine, cover the quilt for sweating, and the duration must be at least 2 to 3 hours. During this period, there must be no chance of getting cold, such as getting up to the cold bathroom with sweating.
  • Do not sweat too much, just take a slight sweat on your body for a while, and keep it for a while.
  • After 15 minutes of taking herbal medicine, take some hot rice porridge or water to help to sweat.
  • When you are sweating, try not to lie on your back, but use the side-lying position. After sweating for a while, flip to the other side to make each side sweat evenly.
  • Don’t wear thick cloth for sweating.
  • If you catch a cold during sweating, which causes the failure to release exterior, do not forcefully take medicine again.
  • In very special and unusual circumstances, if you take improper dosage and cause uncontrolled continuous sweating, you should go to the hospital immediately.
  • Forbid take Western medicine with sweating effect at the same time。
  • When the cold symptoms disappear or improve a lot, you need to stop the medicine, and you cannot continue to take the medicine without instruction.

【P】Precaution for taking purging or detoxicate herbs

  • Take 1 hour after the meal.
  • It is normal when your stool becomes a loose shape, or darker colour, or sticky, or with an odd smell. It is the toxins in the body excreted in the stool.
  • When you go to the toilet more than four times, reduce the dosage to 2/3.
  • When you feel abdominal pain after taking herbs in some rare cases,  it is normal and can recover soon. If not, stop the medicine for a while.

【W】Precaution for taking pungent or warm herbs

  • Don’t take any cold water, cold food during taking medicine.
  • Take some warm water regularly if you feel a dry mouth.

【M】Description of possible Mingxuan reaction

  • Mingxuan reaction is a unique possible phenomenon of taking Chinese medicine, including aggravation of symptoms in a short time, and some adverse reactions or specific reactions of the body. This is a phenomenon that promotes self-adjustment after the drug enters the body. It is NOT a side effect of drugs, it does not necessarily appear, it is a natural disease-releasing action of the human body.
  • The Chinese ancients said: No Mingxuan, no recovery. Therefore, this reaction is a positive signal for recovery. Therefore, it is short-lived and transient. With the recovery of the body’s upright qi, it will disappear naturally.
  • The characteristics of judging the Mingxuan reaction are: the body has a positive response to the disease, such as for diarrhea, but the more times diarrhea occurs, the better the patient’s spirit. In other words, it is different from the disease, the body feels more comfortable.
  • Under what circumstances will there be a Mingxuan reaction? It usually occurs in patients with chronic diseases which were hard to treat for years.
  • If you cannot judge for yourself, please inform the TCM doctor about the specific situation.