Plant Herbal Treasures®

Kidney Qi Pill from the Golden Cabinet

Chinese Prescription: Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan

English Translation: Kidney Qi Pill from the Golden Cabinet

Formula Type: Warms and Tonifies the Yang

Actions: Warms & tonifies the Kidney yang.

Indications: Lower back pain, weakness of the lower extremities, a cold sensation in the lower half of the body, tenseness in the lower abdomen, a pale, swollen tongue with a thin, white, & moist coating, & an empty or frail pulse that is submerged & faint at the proximal position. This patient may also be irritable to the point of experiencing difficulty lying down, & will breath most comfortably while leaning against something. There is either urinary difficutly with edema, or excessive urination, sometimes to the point of incontinence.

Contraindications: Contraindiacted for yin deficiency with dry mouth & throat, & red tongue with little caoting.

Shu Di Huang / Rehmannia Root, cooked in wine
Shu Di Huang - Rehmannia Root - Prepared Shu Di Huang - Rehmannia Root - Prepared Sheng Di Huang - Rehmannia Root - Unprepared
Taste: Sweet • Temperature: Slightly Warm • Category: Tonic • Sub Category: Tonify Blood
Dosage 9-30g	Actions 1. Tonifies the blood: for blood deficiency with such symptoms as pallid complexion, dizziness, palpitations, & insomnia. Very commonly used when blood deficiency leads to such problems as irregular menstruation, uterine bleeding, & post partum bleeding. 2. Nourishes the yin: for Kidney yin deficiency with such symptoms as night sweats, nocturnal emissions, steaming bone disorder, & wasting & thirsting disorder. 3. Nourishes the blood & tonifies the essence: for low back pain, weakness of the lower extremitites, lightheadedness & dizziness, tinnitus, diminished aural acuity, & premature graying of hair due to exhaused blood & essence.	Meridians Heart, Kidney, Liver	Cautions Use with caution in cases of Spleen &/or Stomach deficiency, & in cases of stagnant qi or phlegm. Overuse can lead to abdominal distention & loose stools. Toxicity: Side effects from using shu di huang are mild & include diarrhea, abdominal pain, dizziness, lack of energy, & palpitations. These symptoms usually disappear with continued administration of the herb.

Shan Zhu Yu / Cornus Fruit
Taste: Sour • Temperature: Slightly Warm • Category: Stabilize & Bind • Sub Category:
Dosage 3-12g, 30-60g in cases of shock	Actions 1. Stabilizes the Kidneys & retains the essence: for leakage of fluids due to weak essence with such symptoms as excessive urination, incontinence, spermatorrhea, & excessive sweating. 2. Stops excessive sweating & supports that which has collapsed: for excessive sweating, especially in cases of devastated yang & collapsed qi, as in shock. 3. Tonifies & augments the Liver & Kidneys: for Liver & Kidney deficiency with such symptoms as lightheadedness, dizziness, sore & weak lower back & knees, or impotence. This herb both tonifies the essence & assistes the yang. 4. Stabilizes the menses & stops bleeding: for deficiency patterns of excessive uterine bleeding & prolonged menstruation. It has only a weak effect on the bleeding.	Meridians Kidney, Liver	Cautions Contraindicated in cases with painful & difficult urination or those with damp-heat. May antagonize jie geng, fang feng, & fang ji.

Shan Yao / Dioscorea Opposita
Taste: Sweet • Temperature: Neutral • Category: Tonic • Sub Category: Tonify Qi
Dosage 9-30g, 250g decoction daily	Actions 1. Tonifies & augments the Spleen & Stomach: for Spleen & Stomach deficiency with such symptoms as diarrhea, fatigue, spontaneous sweating, & lack of appetite. 2. Tonifies the Lung qi & augments the Lung yin: for chronic cough or wheezing due to Lung deficiency. 3. Tonifies the Kidneys & also stabilizes & binds: because this herb moistens & is neither hot nor cold, it benefits both the yin & the yang of the Lungs & Kidneys. It is therefore often used in treating wasting & thirsting disorder. It also binds the essence & treats spermatorrhea, frequent urination, & vaginal discharge.	Meridians Kidney, Lung, Spleen	Cautions Contraindicated in cases of excess, especially when there is fullness due to dampness, stagnation, or accumulation. May antagonize gan sui.

Fu Zi / Aconite Root (Treated)
Taste: Acrid • Temperature: Hot • Category: Warm Interior & Expel Cold • Sub Category:
Dosage 1.5-15g, boil 30-60 min before adding other ingredients to reduce toxic properties	Actions 1. Restores devastated yang: for devastated yang disorders where the yang qi is extremely weak & the cold yin is abundant. Symptoms include diarrhea containing undigested food particles, chills, cold extremities, & a faint or imperceptible pulse. This condition often occurs after severe vomiting, diarrhea, or sweating. This herb is critical in these situations since it both assists the Heart yang to unblock the vessesls & improve circulation, & tonifies the Kidney yang to augment the fire & avoid loss of the basal yang. 2. Warms the fire & assists the yang: for any problem associated with weakness or deficiency of the Heart, Spleen, or Kidney yang. It is a widely used herb, especially when the pattern involves interior cold due to yang deficiency. 3. Disperses cold, warms the channels, & alleviates pain: for wind-damp-cold painful obstruction, especially when cold is predominant. Also for cold blocking the Organs, channels, sinews, bones, or blood vessels.	Meridians Heart, Kidney, Spleen	Cautions Contraindicated in cases of yin deficiency with illusionary cold & true heat, & during pregnancy. Traditionally this herb was not to be used together with bei mu, gua lou, bai ji, ban xia, or bai wei. According to some traditional sources, this herb antagonizes wu gong & counteracts xi jiao & lu dou. Note that the latter two substances are used to reduce the toxicity of this herb. Toxicity: Fu zi is a very toxic herb. Toxicity waivers widely depending on the source of the herb, when it was harvested, how it was prepared, & how long it was decocted. Preparation usually removes much of the toxicity. A toxic dose is usually far above normal level, on the order of 15-60g. Clinically, atropine has been very effective in treating overdosage of this herb. When gan cao & gan jiang are combined with this herb in decoctions, its toxicity is substantially diminished. Xi jiao, jin yin hua & lu dou also reduce its toxicity. Signs of toxic overdose include drooling, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lightheadedness, blurred vision, & numbness in the mouth & extremities. In advanced cases there may be premature atrial contractions, dyspnea, tremors, incontinence, stupor, & reduced temperature & blood pressure.

Rou Gui / Cinnamon, (inner bark)
Rou Gui - Cinnamon Bark Gui Zhi - Cinnamon Twigs
Taste: Acrid, Sweet • Temperature: Hot • Category: Warm Interior & Expel Cold • Sub Category:
Dosage 1.5-4.5g, crush into small pieces before using, usually taken as powder, pill or tincture to avoid loss of volatile oils	Actions 1. Warms the Kidneys & fortifies the yang: for a wide variety of problems due to insufficiency of Kidney yang & waning of the gate of vitality. Common manifestations include aversion to cold, cold limbs, weak back, impotence, frequent urination. Also for waning of the Spleen & Kidney yang with abdominal pain & cold, reduced appetite, & diarrhea. Also important for wheezing due to the failure of the Kidneys to grasp the qi. 2. Leads the fire back to its source: the principal herb for treating the upward-floating of the deficient yang. Manifestations include flushed face, wheezing, severe sweating (when the sweat pours out like oil), weak & cold lower extremities, & a deficient & rootless pulse. This patterns is called illusionary heat & true cold, or heat above/cold below. Also used for other conditions where the upper part of the body is hot (e.g., dry mouth, sore throat, or toothache that become worse at night) & the lower part is cold (e.g., lower back pain, cold lower extremities, diarrhea, weakness in the proximal position of the pulse). 3. Disperses deep cold, warms the channels, unblocks the channels & vessels, & alleviates pain: for deep cold causing qi stagnation or blood stasis. Associated problems include cold in the blood causing amenorrhea or dysmenorrhea, damp-cold painful obstruction, yin type boils (chronic sores that are usually concave & ooze a clear fluid), & abcesses or sores that do not heal. 4. Encourages the generation of qi & blood: with qi & blood tonics as an auxiliary herb for chronic deficiency of qi & blood.	Meridians Heart, Kidney, Liver, Spleen	Cautions Contraindicated in cases of yin deficiency with heat signs, interior excess heat, & the reckless movement of hot blood. Use with caution during pregnancy.

Ze Xie / Alismatis Rhizome
Taste: Sweet, Bland • Temperature: Cold • Category: Drain Damp • Sub Category:
Dosage 6-15g	Actions 1. Promotes urination & leaches out dampness: for the stagnation associated with dampness with such symptoms as urinary difficulty, edema, & diarrhea. Especially useful when there is damp-heat in the lower burner. 2. Drains Kidney fire: for Kidney yin deficiency patterns with heat signs, including dizziness & tinnitus.	Meridians Kidney, Bladder	Cautions Contraindicated in cases of spermatorrhea or vaginal discharge due to Kidney yang deficiency or damp-cold. Toxicity: A very safe herb. The ingredients of this herb can irritate the intestinal tract, & gastroenteritis may result from prolonged ingestion.

Fu Ling / Poria, Hoelen, Tuckahoe
Fu Ling (Poria sliced) Fu shen (Poria Spirit w/ piece of wood) Fu Ling Pi (Poria Peel)
Taste: Sweet, Bland • Temperature: Neutral • Category: Drain Damp • Sub Category:
Dosage 9-15g, up to 60g	Actions 1. Promotes urination & leaches out dampness: for urinary difficulty, diarrhea, or edema due to stagnation of fluids or dampness. Also used in cases of scanty urine due to damp-heat (more often in its red form). 2. Strengthens the Spleen & harmonizes the middle burner: for Spleen deficiency compounded by dampness with such symptoms as loss of appetite, diarrhea, & epigastric distention. 3. Strengthens the Spleen & transforms phlegm: for Spleen deficiency with congested fluids in which phlegm moves upward with such symptoms as palpitations, headache, dizziness, & a thick, greasy tongue coating. 4. Quites the Heart & calms the spirit: for palpiations, insomnia, or forgetfulness.	Meridians Heart, Spleen, Lung	Cautions Contraindicated in cases of frequent, copious urine due to cold from deficiency. May counteract di yu, qin jiao & bie jia. Taking this herb in large doses or long-term is discouraged.

Mu Dan Pi / Moutan root bark - tree peony root bark
Taste: Acrid, Bitter • Temperature: Cool • Category: Clear Heat • Sub Category: Cool Blood
Dosage 6-12g	Actions 1. Clears heat & cools the blood: for heat entering the blood level during a warm-febrile disease with such symptoms as nosebleed, blood in the sputum or vomit, or subcutaneous bleeding. Also for frequent & profuse menstruation due to heat in the blood. 2. Clears fire from deficiency: for yin deficiency patterns such as steaming-bone disorder, particularly in the aftermath of a warm-febrile disease. Most suitable in the absence of sweating. 3. Invigorates the blood & dispels blood stasis: for Liver blood stasis patterns with amenorrhea, abdominal masses, lumps, or bruises due to traumatic injury. 4. Clears ascending Liver fire: for such symptoms as headaches, eye pain, flank pain, flushing, & dysmenorrhea. 5. Drains pus & reduces swelling: used topically for firm non-draining sores or internally for Intestinal abscess.	Meridians Heart, Liver, Kidney	Cautions Contraindicated for cold disorders, during pregnancy or excessive menstruation, & for yin deficiency with excessive sweating. May counteract the effects of tu si zi, bei mu, & da huang, & should be avoided when using garlic.

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