Liu Duozhou's Experience Formula for Night Cough Preventing Sleep
Liu Duozhou treated a woman with cough and panting who had to sit upright to breathe and could not lie flat (lying flat made the cough worse). The cough was frequent, with profuse sputum and chest fullness, gurgling sounds in the chest, white greasy tongue coating, and general exhaustion; Western treatment for pneumonia had been ineffective. The pulse was floating and soft.
After examining the patient, Professor Liu judged that she had a damp cough and considered using Ganlu Xiaodu Dan. But because she also presented with panting and inability to lie down, he felt Ganlu Xiaodu Dan alone would be limited; he therefore combined Ganlu Xiaodu Dan with Mahao Xingyi Yiyiren Gancao Tang. After one dose, her panting settled that very day and she could sleep, sleeping soundly all night. Since the formula worked, it was not changed; he continued it for several days, and the cough and wheezing resolved.
Professor Liu's account does not give the specific herbs for the combined Ganlu Xiaodu Dan plus Mahao Xingyi Yiyiren Gancao Tang. Recently, drawing on his experience, I have treated several patients with similar symptoms after lung infections of various causes—severe night cough, even inability to sleep—and achieved some effect. The formula I drafted is as follows:
3g of honey-fried ephedra (Zhi Mahuang), 6g of apricot kernel (Xingren), 9g of Coix seed (Yiyiren), 6g of stir-fried gardenia (Chao Zhizi), 6g of prepared soybean (Dan Douchi), 9g of talc (Huashi, wrapped), 6g of scutellaria (Huangqin), 6g of capillaris yinchen (Yinchen), 4g of acorus (Shichangpu), 3g of Sichuan fritillary (Chuanbeimu), 3g of akebia stem (Mutong), and 2g each of agastache (Huoxiang), forsythia (Lianqiao), white cardamom (Baikouren), mint (Bohe), blackberry lily (Shegan), and honey-fried licorice (Zhi Gancao).
Ganlu Xiaodu Dan comes from the *Secret Transmission of Medical Efficacy* (Yixiao Michuan) and is composed of talc, scutellaria, capillaris, acorus, Sichuan fritillary, akebia, agastache, forsythia, white cardamom, mint, and blackberry lily. It is a proven formula for treating damp-warm seasonal epidemics (what we now call infectious diseases). In this formula, talc, capillaris, and akebia are damp-percolating herbs; scutellaria, forsythia, and mint are exterior-releasing, heat-clearing herbs; Sichuan fritillary and blackberry lily soothe the throat and stop cough; acorus, agastache, and white cardamom aromatically transform dampness.
Combined, these drain dampness and turbidity, clear heat and resolve toxin. They are mainly indicated for damp-warm epidemics with pathogen in the qi aspect and equal dampness-heat, presenting with fever and fatigue, chest and abdominal fullness, sore limbs and throat, yellowing of the skin and eyes, swollen jaw and thirst, scanty dark urine, diarrhea or strangury with turbidity, white or thick greasy or dry yellow tongue coating, and a soft-rapid or slippery-rapid pulse. Today it is often used for gastrointestinal cold, typhoid fever, acute gastroenteritis, icteric infectious hepatitis, leptospirosis, and cholecystitis presenting as equal dampness-heat.
Mahao Xingyi Yiyiren Gancao Tang comes from the *Golden Cabinet* and is composed of honey-fried ephedra, apricot kernel, Coix seed, and licorice. It induces sweating to release the exterior, expels wind and dampness, and stops cough and wheezing. Ephedra induces sweating and releases the exterior, stopping cough and wheezing; apricot kernel ventilates and downbears lung qi, stopping cough and wheezing; Coix seed fortifies the spleen and percolates dampness; honey-fried licorice both harmonizes the herbs and stops cough.
So this is a formula that induces sweating to release the exterior and expel wind-dampness, mainly indicated for various diseases caused by sweating and then exposure to wind, or long residence in damp places, leading to water-dampness lodging in the skin and muscles. Today it is often used for respiratory infections, rheumatic arthritis, lupus erythematosus, brucellosis, intercostal neuralgia, plantar warts, hyperkeratotic eczema, pompholyx, chapped hands and feet, frostbite, and seborrheic alopecia, presenting with fever after cold, aching muscles and joints, sweating, or accompanying edema.
The shared disease mechanism these two formulas hit is "damp cough." Liu combined them into one, and their damp-transforming, cough-stopping effect becomes even clearer. When I read Professor Liu Duozhou's works and saw this medication experience, I felt it made good sense; following his approach, the medicine indeed worked. Recently there have been many patients with night cough from various infections; if other methods have no special effect, this formula is worth a try.