Insomnia is a disease characterized by the frequent inability to obtain normal sleep. The main symptoms are difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakening, unstable sleep or being unable to go back to sleep after waking up, waking up too early in the morning, or even staying up all night. It is also often accompanied by syndromes such as palpitations, dreaminess, forgetfulness, memory loss, and irregular menstruation.
As mentioned in previous popular science articles, the key to the pathogenesis of insomnia lies in the imbalance of yin and yang. If the balance of yin and yang in the human body is lost, the mind will be restless and lead to restless sleep.
"Suwen·Qi Tongtian Lun" clearly points out: "With Yang Qi, essence will nourish the mind, and softness will nourish the muscles." When Yang Qi is full, the mind will be refreshed, the mind will be calm, and the mind will be harmonious. Just as we exercise appropriately You will feel physically refreshed afterward. In fact, this is mainly because exercise can generate yang and the yang energy is replenished.
However, in modern society, people often face pressure from all aspects of work, life, and study. Coupled with staying up late and irregular work and rest, this will inevitably lead to damage to Yang Qi. Or the person may have an uncontrolled diet, prefer raw and cold food, be overworked, or have been ill for a long time, take medication carelessly, sit for long periods of time and stay in an air-conditioned environment for a long time. These factors can lead to the gradual depletion of yang energy.
As the Yang Qi gradually declines, the Yin and Cold will become stronger internally, forcing the Yang to cross outwards, and the Yang will not be able to enter the Yin, resulting in insomnia. This is deficiency-cold insomnia, which is also a common cause of insomnia among many modern people. Moreover, this type of insomnia is common in patients who cannot be cured after long-term treatment and have no obvious signs of yang and heat.
Deficiency-cold insomnia is a very common type of insomnia, and its pathogenesis is closely related to the excessive consumption of Yang Qi in the patient's body. "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" says: "For those who have recurrence of sweating, are irritable during the day and cannot sleep, and are quiet at night, with no vomiting, no thirst, no external symptoms, weak pulse, and no severe fever in the body, Ganjiang Fuzi Decoction can be used." "It is pointed out that the irritability and insomnia caused by careless medication are caused by mistreatment of Yang.
It is also recorded in "Medicine Enlightenment: No Lying Down": "If there is cold air inside and the mind is uneasy, warm it and the mind will be hidden." It not only points out that excessive cold air in the body will cause uneasiness and lead to insomnia. , and also discussed the treatment method of "warming it", so that the mind can rest and insomnia can heal itself. Just as later generations of doctors said: "A deficient heart yang and an excess of yin and cold will disturb the mind internally. If the mind is restless, it will be difficult to fall asleep." Insufficient yang energy and excessive yin-coldness are like putting a person in an icehouse. Due to the overwhelming coldness, it will naturally be difficult to fall asleep or enter a deep sleep state.
Therefore, patients with this type of insomnia often present with symptoms such as light sleep and many dreams, limb weakness, dizziness and excessive sweating, or palpitations, a preference for heat, an aversion to cold, and a dark tongue.
For the treatment of deficiency-cold insomnia, we mainly start from the causes of the patient's yin excess and yang deficiency, deficiency and yang floating, etc. During the treatment process, we focus on warming yang treatment, combined with other causes of insomnia. for treatment. "Jingyue Quanshu·Insomnia" says: "Those who are insomnia due to evil spirits can get rid of the evil spirits and the spirit will be at peace. Therefore, any treatment of wind and cold evils must be dispersed, such as Bupleurum drink and Ephedra, Guizhi and Perilla. "Dried kudzu and the like", it is recommended to use warm products such as ephedra, cinnamon twigs, perilla, etc. to treat insomnia caused by wind and cold evil disturbances.
In actual treatment, modified and subtracted prescriptions such as Ganjiang Fuzi Decoction, Guizhi Licorice Decoction, Guizhi Licorice Keel and Oyster Decoction are commonly used in clinical treatment. "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" also records: "For those who have excessive sweating, cross their hands and feel palpitations, and want to be massaged, Guizhi Licorice Decoction is the best treatment." It is pointed out that this prescription is suitable for treating excessive sweating, internal heartache, and yang. , the first choice prescription for those who suffer from insomnia and palpitations due to insufficient yang energy in the heart. The prescription uses cinnamon twigs, which are pungent and warm to support yang, and licorice, which is sweet and warm to replenish qi. The two medicines are used together to transform yang with pungent and sweetness, and restore heart yang and make it peaceful. The method of warming the meridians and unblocking yang can unblock yang and heat, and harmonize yin and yang, so it can treat yang deficiency or symptoms. Insomnia due to cold.
It should be noted that deficiency-cold insomnia is not only common in young or middle-aged people who often stay up late or take medications accidentally, but is also common in the elderly, because the elderly are often accompanied by A variety of chronic diseases, long-term illness will consume the essence and blood, and the yang energy will gradually decline. Many patients will show the characteristics of Shaoyin disease, "Shaoyin disease, the pulse is fine and fine, but the desire to sleep" is common. The symptoms are day and night reversal, and daytime drowsiness. Excited and sleepless at night, the yin and yang energy is blocked and retrograde, accompanied by depression and anxiety. At this time, the efficacy of calming, nourishing and tranquilizing methods alone is poor.
As for the treatment of warming the meridians and promoting yang, it is also necessary to choose the medicine according to the physical condition of the elderly to avoid using too much medicine, which will cause more damage to the yang qi. Just as traditional Chinese medicine treats diseases according to the individual, time and local conditions, it requires one person. Some patients with insomnia have been depleted for a long time, so they should not be cured in one fell swoop, but should be gradually supported. Long-term conditioning is needed to restore the balance of yin and yang, qi and blood in the human body, starting from the root cause. improve sleep.
For example, Ms. Xu, a 66-year-old previous insomnia patient, has suffered from recurrent insomnia for 10 years, which has worsened in the past year. When she was diagnosed, she had difficulty falling asleep, and even stayed up all night for a week. Taking sleeping pills was ineffective, and she had frequent nightmares and was upset at night. , eating sweets can alleviate the symptoms slightly; usually afraid of cold, hands and feet tend to be cold; dizziness and fatigue, stomach pain after catching cold, headache and vomiting due to insomnia, pale tongue with thin white coating. Therefore, the syndrome differentiation is insufficient heart yang, unable to nourish the mind, floating yang due to deficiency, and disturbance from the wind due to deficiency. To treat it, warm the meridians and unblock the yang, soothe the heart and calm the mind, calm the liver and calm the wind. Then use Guiganlongmu Decoction with the following flavors: roasted cinnamon twigs, roasted licorice, Raw keel bone, calcined oyster, poria cocos, gastrodia elata; 15 doses. During the second diagnosis, he said that he could fall asleep after taking the medicine, the nightmares stopped, and he could sleep for 5-6 hours every night. The headache did not occur, and his mental complexion improved; he still had dizziness, cold hands and feet, and frequent urination at night. Therefore, add lily and cinnamon, 15 doses. During the third diagnosis, her sleep improved further, and she could sometimes sleep for 7-8 hours. Her dizziness, cold hands and feet, and frequent urination at night improved. Continue taking the above 15 doses to consolidate treatment. During a follow-up visit half a year after taking the medicine, her sleep was normal and her insomnia did not recur.
In this case, Ms. Xu has suffered from insomnia for 10 years. She has many symptoms and sleeping pills are ineffective. She is a relatively difficult case of insomnia. After careful analysis of her insomnia characteristics, in addition to staying up all night, many nightmares, and nighttime In addition to upset and other symptoms, there are also signs of deficiency and cold such as usual fear of cold, cold hands and feet, dizziness and fatigue, stomachache after catching a cold, pale tongue with thin white coating, etc. Eating sweets can slightly relieve the symptoms, which also indicates deficiency and should be supplemented, so it is recommended to take The main treatment method is to warm the meridians and unblock the yang.
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