Secure the True Drink

Pattern-based

• Dual vacuity of Yin and Yang (陰陽兩虛) with Qi and Blood insufficiency
• Tidal heat and spontaneous sweating with essence-Qi efflux desertion
• Weak gait and intermittent diarrhea with a sunken weak pulse — taxation consumption in the making

Biomedical correlates

• Chronic fatigue with mixed heat and cold intolerance
• Age-related decline with night sweats and loose stools
• Long-term maintenance in frail middle-aged and older patients

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治陰陽兩虛, 氣血不足, 飮食少思, 五心煩熱, 潮熱自汗, 精氣滑脫, 行步無力, 時或泄瀉, 脉度沈弱, 咳嗽痰多, 將成勞瘵. 熟地黃 一錢半, 人參ㆍ山藥ㆍ當歸ㆍ黃芪(蜜炒)ㆍ黃柏(鹽酒炒) 各一錢, 陳皮ㆍ白茯苓 各八分, 杜沖(炒)ㆍ甘草(灸) 各七分, 白朮ㆍ澤瀉ㆍ山茱萸ㆍ破故紙(炒) 各五分, 五味子 十粒. 右剉, 作一貼, 水煎服. 盖門冬ㆍ地黃, 雖滋陰, 久則滯胃滯經, 致生癰疽, 金石ㆍ桂ㆍ附, 雖助陽, 久則積溫成熱, 耗損眞陰. 惟此方, 備五味合氣, 冲和養血, 理脾胃, 充腠理, 補五藏, 無寒熱偏倂, 過不及之失, 中年已上之人, 可以常服. 《入門》

Translation

Treats dual vacuity of Yin and Yang with Qi and Blood insufficient: little thought of food, vexing heat in the five hearts, tidal heat and spontaneous sweating, essence and Qi slipping away, strengthless gait, intermittent diarrhea, a sunken weak pulse, and cough with copious phlegm — taxation consumption in the making. Prepared rehmannia 1.5 don; ginseng, dioscorea, Korean angelica, honey-fried astragalus, and salt-and-wine-fried phellodendron, 1 don each; tangerine peel and white poria, 0.8 don each; dry-fried eucommia and roasted licorice, 0.7 don each; white atractylodes, alisma, cornus, and dry-fried psoralea, 0.5 don each; 10 grains of schisandra. Cut the above, make one packet, decoct in water and take. For though ophiopogon and rehmannia enrich Yin, over long use they clog the stomach and the channels and give rise to welling- and flat-abscesses; and though minerals, cinnamon, and aconite assist Yang, over long use they bank warmth into heat and wear away the true Yin. This formula alone combines the five flavors in harmony: it nourishes the Blood evenly, rectifies the Spleen and Stomach, fills out the interstices, and supplements the five viscera, without one-sided cold or heat, excess or insufficiency. Persons past middle age may take it regularly. — Immun 入門 (Donguibogam · Heoro)