I always feel dry and bitter in my mouth when I wake up in the morning, and my stomach still turns sour. What is this problem?
In fact, these three symptoms are common symptoms of chronic atrophic gastritis, and these symptoms suggest that you may have problems with your stomach.
Let's start with bitter taste. Under normal circumstances, there is no odor in our mouth, and our mouth is also moist and moist, which indicates that you are very healthy.
If the mouth is bitter, it indicates that there is fire in the liver and gallbladder, because the fire is hot and the steam on it will bring up the bitter qi in the bile, which is very bitter. We often say "bitter bile", and if the mouth is bitter, it indicates that there is fire in the liver and gallbladder that brings up the bile.
Dry mouth, on the other hand, is also a manifestation of excessive heat damaging the body and causing a loss of body fluids. When the fire is strong, it will naturally cause dry mouth, which means insufficient body fluids.
So what is the reason why the stomach always feels acid reflux?
We know that the stomach secretes a lot of stomach acid every day, which is called acid water. If there is something wrong with the stomach, this acid water will overflow and overflow into the mouth, making it unbearable.
So, when we combine these three symptoms, we know that the location of this disease is the liver and gallbladder, as well as the stomach. The nature of the disease is that the fire of the liver and gallbladder disrupts the stomach, causing damage to the stomach. After the stomach is damaged, it causes acid reflux and acid vomiting.
These causes, combined, cause the mouth to be bitter, dry, and sour.
Western medicine refers to this condition as bile reflux gastritis, while traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is caused by liver fire invading the stomach. As long as the fire of the liver and gallbladder is removed, the stomach disease can be cured without treatment. This is exactly what traditional Chinese medicine says about seeking the root cause of the disease.
Since we know the cause, if we want to treat the disease, we must go to the liver fire.
Our traditional Chinese medicine often says that fire is divided into deficiency and excess, and the fire of the liver and gallbladder naturally also has a distinction between deficiency and excess. So the question arises, how to determine whether this liver and gallbladder fire is real fire or virtual fire?
The so-called real fire refers to the fact that although the fire is very strong, Shuijin has not been injured yet, and clearing the fire is enough for treatment.
And deficiency fire is a situation where the fire is very strong and the water is also burned dry. In the treatment of this situation, it is necessary to clear the fire and nourish yin at the same time.
How to determine if the water is still fully charged? The simplest way is to look at the tongue. If the tongue is red, dry, lacks body fluid, and looks dry, it indicates a yin injury.
When liver and gallbladder excess fire invades the stomach, Zuojin Wan should be used, while when deficiency fire invades the stomach, consistent decoction should be used.
Zuojin Wan is easy to understand. In fact, it uses the bitter cold of Huanglian to clear liver fire. Huanglian is very cold, and cold can clear heat. Once liver fire is cleared, the stomach will not reflux acid. The principle is very simple, it is to strike directly with a single knife.
Now Zuojin Pills have traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations, which can be taken by patients who suffer from stomach ache due to excessive fire.
Today, we will focus on the consistent decoction of deficiency fire invading the stomach.
9g each of Beisha Shen, Maidong, and Angelica sinensis, 18-30g of raw Rehmannia glutinosa, 9-18g of goji berries, and 4.5g of Chinese toom.
Due to insufficient yin fluid in the liver and gallbladder, yin does not regulate yang, resulting in excessive liver and gallbladder fire. This type of deficiency fire causes acid reflux in the stomach, which cannot be cleared by light fire. Water must also be added to nourish yin,
Sha Shen, Mai Dong, goji berries, and Shengdi are all nourishing yin medicines. By nourishing yin, the dry liver is moistened and the fire naturally cannot start.
Ziyin is like precipitation. When the mountain fire is raging, a rainstorm can extinguish the mountain fire.
Among these four medicines, the nourishing yin power of the earth is the greatest, and the dosage is also large, resulting in a stronger nourishing yin power,.
Traditional Chinese medicine says that the natural environment greatly nourishes kidney water. When the water is sufficient, the liver and wood will no longer be dry, which is called Zihan wood.
Moreover, the natural environment is cool, which is a way to eliminate liver fire. Therefore, among the four flavors of nourishing yin and reducing fire, the natural environment is the most important.
Maidong has a very moist texture and does not wither during winter. It has the cold air of winter and can nourish and clear the fire. Especially when liver fire invades the stomach and causes fire in the stomach, using Ophiopogon japonicus is very suitable.
The function of Sha Shen here is very similar to that of Ophiopogon japonicus, which is to nourish the stomach and yin, while nourishing yin can control fire, so there is no need to elaborate further.
Goji berries are well-known for their ability to nourish kidney yin. Kidney belongs to water, liver belongs to wood, and liver and kidney share the same origin. Supplementing kidney water is equivalent to nourishing liver yin. The two are interconnected, with one nourishing and the other prospering.
After talking about nourishing yin, let's talk about nourishing blood.
Danggui body is nourishing liver blood, because long-term excessive liver fire can cause blood damage, which is called fire burning blood injury. Moderate supplementation of liver blood is beneficial for liver recovery.
Moreover, whether it is nourishing yin or nourishing blood, both increase the cooling and moisturizing properties of the liver, and restrict its fiery nature.
The last medicine is Chinese toom, which can soothe the liver and regulate qi. Why do we need to soothe the liver and regulate qi?
The truth is like a river. If the water dries up, its fluidity will be poor, which often leads to damage to the drainage function of the river and accumulation of garbage inside.
Similarly, insufficient liver blood and liver yin, as well as slow flow, can also lead to liver qi stagnation. Liver depression is the source of all diseases and the thief of diseases. The circulation of gas and liquid throughout the body cannot be separated from the liver's laxative effect. Using Sichuan azalea can restore the liver's laxative function.
This also reminds us that although traditional decoction is a nourishing medicine for yin, it can also soothe the liver. Since it can soothe the liver, it can treat the side pain caused by liver qi stagnation.
The rib cage is the area where the liver is divided, and the liver meridian passes through it, so the vast majority of rib cage pain requires liver regulation.
Many doctors use traditional Chinese medicine decoction, which not only treats stomach diseases caused by liver fire and acid swallowing, but also treats rib pain and intercostal neuralgia in the elderly. It utilizes the function of traditional Chinese medicine decoction to nourish yin and soothe the liver.
Yi Yi Jian was a unique prescription created by Wei Liuzhou, a doctor of the Qing Dynasty, specifically for nourishing liver yin and relieving liver depression. When this formula was introduced, it filled a gap in traditional Chinese medicine,
Because before this, there were formulas for simply nourishing liver yin, such as Siwu Tang, and formulas for simply soothing the liver, such as Chaihu Shugan San. However, there were no formulas for liver depression caused by liver yin,
The formulation of Wei Liuzhou greatly enriched the methods of treating liver in traditional Chinese medicine.
So with just one prescription, the name of this doctor has been passed down and praised by many famous scholars, and there are indeed areas worth pondering.
Finally, let's summarize the efficacy of this prescription using the original text of Wei Liuzhou: "Suffering from flank pain, acid swallowing, and vomiting, all liver diseases." Therefore, don't forget this prescription.