Guiban Wan (Turtle Shell Pill) for Treating Menorrhagia in Women
The Qing-dynasty physician Shen Jin'ao's medical work Fuke Yuchi (Jade Rules of Gynecology) contains a formula called "Guiban Wan" for treating menorrhagia in women. Its composition is: turtle shell (guiban, fried with butter), Radix Scutellariae (huangqin), Radix Paeoniae Alba (baishao), and Cortex Ailanthi (chungenpi), each 1 liang (30 g); and Cortex Phellodendri (huangbo, roasted with honey) 3 qian (9 g). The herbs are ground into powder; refined honey is added to form pills the size of a parasol tree seed. Three qian are taken each time, washed down with diluted vinegar decoction, twice daily.
Guiban Wan nourishes yin and clears heat, secures the menstruation and stops bleeding. It treats menorrhagia, prolonged menstrual periods, and continuous dribbling bleeding in women. Such symptoms are commonly seen in endometrial hyperplasia, a condition in which the endometrium grows excessively under the stimulation of inflammation, endocrine disorders, or certain medications; some patients have a genetic basis.
In this formula, Scutellaria, Phellodendron, and Ailanthus all cool the blood and stop bleeding and dysentery; modern pharmacology shows that all three also have broad-spectrum antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor effects. Turtle shell and Paeonia Alba nourish yin and blood. Because the patient is bleeding heavily, stopping bleeding and nourishing blood must proceed together. If bleeding is severe, the formula may be combined with Erzhi Wan (Two-Seed Pill), and hemostatic herbs such as petiole carbon (zonglü tan) and human hair carbon (xueyu tan) may be added to strengthen the hemostatic effect.
The main symptoms of this disease are heavy menstrual flow, prolonged periods, and intermenstrual bleeding; some patients also have dull lower abdominal pain. The condition can cause infertility and endometrial cancer; once confirmed by ultrasound and pathology, it should be treated promptly. However, neither Chinese nor Western medicine currently has a particularly effective treatment, so multiple approaches must be tried.
Guiban Wan is not commercially available as a patent medicine, so patients must prepare it themselves according to the prescription. The course of treatment is long; patience is required, and more than half a year of treatment is needed before clear efficacy is seen.