Two Pills for Amenorrhea and Dysmenorrhea: Lichong Pills and Desheng Pills

Amenorrhea is a common gynecological condition; prolonged amenorrhea can induce gynecological tumors. In my clinical practice I have seen tumor patients whose disease progresses rapidly when their period should have come but instead stops. This may be related to hormonal imbalance. I now introduce two pills for treating amenorrhea for readers' reference.

The first is Lichong Pills by Zhang Xichun, a famous physician of the late Qing and early Republican period. The formula comes from Zhang's Yixue Zhongzhong Canxi Lu (Records of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Combination), and is composed as follows: Shuizhi (Hirudo, leech) 30 g, raw Huangqi (Radix Astragali) 45 g, raw Sanleng (Rhizoma Sparganii) 15 g, raw Ezhu (Rhizoma Curcumae) 15 g, Danggui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis) 18 g, Zhimu (Rhizoma Anemarrhenae) 18 g, raw Taoren (Semen Persicae, with tip and skin) 18 g. Preparation: pound the above into a fine powder and form pills the size of a parasol-tree seed. Take 6 g each time with warm boiled water, morning and evening.

This formula boosts qi and nourishes blood, resolves stasis, and disperses abdominal masses (zheng-jia). It is indicated for women with blocked menstruation, or retained lochia after childbirth that has congealed into abdominal masses, accompanied by fever and aversion to cold, poor appetite, and emaciation.

The second is Desheng Pills, included in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (Part I, 2000 edition), composed as follows: Yimucao (Herba Leonuri) 600 g, Danggui 200 g, Baishao (Radix Paeoniae Alba) 200 g, Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri) 100 g, Muxiang (Radix Aucklandiae) 50 g, Chuanxiong (Rhizoma Chuanxiong) 50 g. Preparation: pulverize these six herbs into a fine powder, sift, and mix. To every 100 g of powder add 190–210 g of refined honey and make into large honey pills, each weighing 9 g. Take orally twice daily, one pill each time.

This formula nourishes blood and resolves stasis, regulates menstruation, and stops pain. It is indicated for blood stasis and qi stagnation causing irregular menstruation, menstrual abdominal pain, and abdominal masses.

The therapeutic logic of these two formulas is basically the same: both mainly nourish blood and resolve stasis. The herbs used are also all common gynecological medicines; the two may in fact be used together to enhance efficacy. Based on the pharmacology of the herbs in both formulas, they have some effect on benign gynecological tumors such as uterine fibroids and ovarian cysts, and can also serve as adjunctive therapy for malignant gynecological tumors such as ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancer.

Female patients who develop tumors unrelated to the reproductive organs, such as lymphoma or thyroid tumors, may also try these two pills if they find their tumor's progression is closely linked to amenorrhea. This blood-activating, menstruation-unblocking approach helps some patients, but not everyone. In practice we have indeed found that in some women, lymphoma or thyroid tumors progress rapidly during menstruation when the flow is scant or absent, and after treatment restores normal menstruation the tumors shrink noticeably. This phenomenon deserves deeper study by oncologists.

However, both pills have blood-activating effects, so pregnant women and those with bleeding tendency should not use them.