"Guzhong Wan" (Center-Securing Pill) for Enduring Unstoppable Diarrhea
In Yixue Gangmu (Outline of Medicine) there is a very simple proven formula called "Guzhong Wan" (Center-Securing Pill), composed of Rhizoma Atractylodis (cangzhu) and Semen Myristicae (roudoukou) in equal parts. Preparation: powder the above herbs, use rice gruel as the excipient, and form into pills the size of a phoenix-tree seed. Each time take 50 pills with warm boiled water, three times a day.
This formula warms the center and dries dampness, secures the intestines and stops diarrhea. It is indicated for spleen deficiency with exuberant dampness and enduring diarrhea that will not stop. According to traditional TCM theory, in this formula Rhizoma Atractylodis is an important herb for warming the spleen and drying dampness, while Semen Myristicae warms the center and stops diarrhea; the two used together have a good therapeutic effect on diarrhea due to spleen deficiency and exuberant dampness. Today this formula is often used for various acute and chronic enteritides and ulcerative colitis presenting with undigested food in the stool and loose sloppy diarrhea; it can also be used for pediatric indigestion with abdominal pain and diarrhea, and for the unstoppable diarrhea in cancer patients caused by chemotherapy or targeted drugs.
This formula is simple in composition, using only two herbs. Such a small formula can serve as a medicinal pair: when writing a larger prescription for a complex disease that also presents with spleen-deficiency diarrhea, one may include this pair within it.
Guzhong Wan is not available as a ready-made patent medicine. If a patient wishes to take it, he may prepare the pills or powder himself according to the recipe, or convert it into a decoction. The decoction dosage is: Rhizoma Atractylodis (cangzhu) 6 g, Semen Myristicae (roudoukou) 6 g. However, patients with chronic diseases such as ulcerative colitis will need a long course, and it is best prepared as a pill. This formula has few side effects; the Semen Myristicae in it is often used as a spice, so chronic-disease patients may take it long-term.