A Medical Case: Gynecological Hemorrhage of Unknown Cause
The daughter of an osteosarcoma patient had been troubled for years by gynecological bleeding of unknown cause, which had resisted treatment. Because I had treated her father, she asked me to try prescribing a formula for her. During the inquiry, the patient reported that for years the gynecological bleeding had been continuous, to the point of causing anemia, with a sallow complexion and weakness. Examination revealed uterine fibroids and mammary gland hyperplasia, but these were not sufficient to cause such severe continuous bleeding. The patient's bleeding was closely related to her emotions: whenever she became angry, the bleeding would not stop.
The patient's family knew a little about TCM and had her take Xiaojin Wan and Xiaoyao Wan on her own; the uterine fibroids shrank, but the continuous bleeding problem was never resolved. Local gynecologists also had no good way to solve the patient's problem. The patient additionally had facial edema, abdominal distension, headache, dizziness and blurred vision, and weakness of the limbs.
I tried several therapeutic approaches on this patient. At one point a formula composed of Petiolus Trachycarpi Carbon (Zong Lü Tan), Dipsaci Radix (Xu Duan), and Cyperi Rhizoma (Xiang Fu) resolved her bleeding problem. But a month later, after the patient quarreled with someone, the disease recurred. I tried several approaches: the Guipi Tang (Restore the Spleen Decoction) for failure of the spleen to govern blood, the Erzhi Wan for excessive and frequent menstruation, and some single empirical formulas—all without effect.
Later I decided to use the formula Wenqing San to treat this patient, with the following herbs: Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Dang Gui) 6 g, Chuanxiong Rhizoma (Chuan Xiong) 6 g, Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata (Shu Di Huang) 6 g, Paeoniae Radix Alba (Bai Shao) 6 g, Coptidis Rhizoma (Huang Lian) 6 g, Scutellariae Radix (Huang Qin) 6 g, Phellodendri Cortex (Huang Bai) 6 g, Gardeniae Fructus (Zhi Zi) 6 g, Bupleuri Radix (Chai Hu) 3 g, Cimicifugae Rhizoma (Sheng Ma) 3 g, Curcumae Radix (Yu Jin) 3 g, Aucklandiae Radix (Mu Xiang) 6 g, Cyperi Rhizoma (Xiang Fu) 3 g, Puerariae Radix (Ge Gen) 9 g, Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Bai Zhi) 3 g, Viticis Fructus (Man Jing Zi) 12 g.
After taking it, the patient's abdominal distension and headache were somewhat relieved, and the bleeding stopped. But before long, the patient bled again due to emotional distress. I had no other tricks up my sleeve, so I bravely adjusted a new prescription on the basis of the previous one raw Astragali Radix (Sheng Huang Qi) 30 g, Codonopsis Radix (Dang Shen) 6 g, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma (Bai Zhu) 6 g, Poria (Fu Ling) 6 g, Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma Praeparata cum Melle (Zhi Gan Cao) 6 g, Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Dang Gui) 6 g, Chuanxiong Rhizoma (Chuan Xiong) 6 g, Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata (Shu Di Huang) 6 g, Paeoniae Radix Alba (Bai Shao) 6 g, Coptidis Rhizoma (Huang Lian) 6 g, Scutellariae Radix (Huang Qin) 6 g, Phellodendri Cortex (Huang Bai) 6 g, Gardeniae Fructus (Zhi Zi) 6 g, Bupleuri Radix (Chai Hu) 3 g, Cimicifugae Rhizoma (Sheng Ma) 3 g, Curcumae Radix (Yu Jin) 3 g, Aucklandiae Radix (Mu Xiang) 6 g, Cyperi Rhizoma (Xiang Fu) 3 g, Puerariae Radix (Ge Gen) 9 g, Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Bai Zhi) 3 g, Viticis Fructus (Man Jing Zi) 12 g, Platycladi Cacumen Carbonatum (Ce Bai Tan) 30 g, Sanguisorbae Radix (Di Yu) 30 g, Crinis Carbonisatus (Xue Yu Tan) 15 g.
After this adjustment, the patient took only one dose and the bleeding phenomenon was resolved. Follow-up more than a month later showed no further bleeding, and her complexion was no longer as sallow as before. The patient stopped the medication on her own to observe. Precisely why this final formula achieved such an effect with a single dose, I cannot explain. Sometimes we have to admit that therapeutic effect is a matter of luck.