"Qisheng Wan" (Seven-Victory Pill) for Cold-Damp Bi Pain and Weak, Failing Legs
Qisheng Wan comes from Shengji Zonglu (General Record of Holy Benevolence). The formula is composed of: Radix Clematidis (weilingxian, earth removed), Radix Angelicae Sinensis (danggui, soaked in wine, sliced and dried), processed Aconitum (fuzi, peeled and with the umbo removed), and Rhizoma Gastrodiae (tianma), each one jin; Cinnamon bark (rougui, coarse bark removed), Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae (niuxi, sprouts removed, soaked in wine and dried), and baked dried Ginger (paojiang), each half a jin. Powder all the above finely, cook into a paste with wine and flour, and form into pills the size of a phoenix-tree seed. Take 20 pills each time, washed down with warm wine, twice by day and once at night.
This formula warms the kidney and transforms dampness, dispels wind and unblocks bi. It is indicated for cold pain in the lower back and knees caused by kidney-yang insufficiency with wind-cold-damp bi, difficulty walking, and acute abdominal pain. This formula has no ready-made patent medicine but may be converted into a decoction.
The decoction dosage is: Radix Clematidis (weilingxian) 12 g, Radix Angelicae Sinensis (danggui) 12 g, prepared Aconitum (fuzi) 12 g, Rhizoma Gastrodiae (tianma) 12 g, Cinnamon bark (rougui) 6 g (added late or powdered and taken in suspension), Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae (niuxi) 6 g, dried Ginger (ganjiang) 6 g. This formula is suitable for patients with cold pain in the lower back and legs, weak and failing feet, and a frail constitution.
Qisheng Wan belongs to the category of yang-supporting formulas. In it, Aconitum, dried Ginger and Cinnamon are the three principal herbs in Chinese medicine for supporting yang, so this formula suits yang-deficiency patients and is not suitable for those with yin deficiency and effulgent fire. The indication for this formula is a lower back and below that feels icy cold, with cold, painful and weak limbs, clear and copious urine, and no dry mouth. If the patient's symptoms are the opposite of these, this formula must not be used indiscriminately.
The reason I introduce this formula is that it is an excellent one for treating post-COVID aftereffects. After COVID, some patients have stenosis and plaques in the lower-limb arteries, causing chills, cold painful weakness in the legs, and breathlessness on walking; in TCM this belongs to the yang-deficiency pattern and requires a yang-supporting formula. In this formula Angelica and Achyranthes invigorate blood and unblock the collaterals; Clematis and Gastrodia dispel wind and stop pain, treating the manifestation; Aconitum, dried Ginger and Cinnamon treat the root. With root and manifestation combined, it should relieve the patient's symptoms.