Oyster Shell Powder
Chinese Prescription: Mu Li San
English Translation: Oyster Shell Powder
Formula Type: Stabilize the Exterior and the Lungs
Actions: Inhibits sweating & stabilizes the exterior.
Indications: Spontaneous sweating that worsens at night, palpitations, easily startled, shortness of breath, irritability, general debility, lethargy, a pale-red tongue, & a thin, frail pulse/
Contraindications: This formula is inappropriate for treating profuse, oily sweat associated with exhaustion of the yin or yang.
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Mu Li / Oyster Shell |
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Taste: Salty, Astringent • Temperature: Cool • Category: Calm Shen • Sub Category: Anchor & Settle Shen |
Dosage15-30g |
Actions1. Settles & calms the spirit: for palpitations with anxiety, restlessness, & insomnia.
2. Benefits the yin & anchors the floating yang: for irritability insomnia, dizziness, headache, tinnitus, blurred vision, bad temper, or a red, flushed face due to yin deficiency with ascendant yang.
3. Prevents leakage of fluids: for continuous sweating in patients with steaming bone disorder or in the aftermath of a warm-febrile disease. Also used as an astringent for spontaneous sweating, night sweats, nocturnal emissions, spermatorrhea or vaginal discharge, & uterine bleeding due to deficiency.
4. Softens hardness & dissipated nodules: for various kinds of lumps in the neck such as scrofula & goiter.
5. Absorbs acidity & alleviated pain: used in calcined form for excessive Stomach pain with a sour taste in mouth. |
MeridiansLiver, Kidney |
CautionsNot to be used in cases of high fever due to excess with an absense of sweating. May have adverse effects when combined with ma huang, wu zhu yu & xi xin. Overdose may lead to indigestion or constipation. |
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Huang Qi / Astragalus |
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Taste: Sweet • Temperature: Slightly Warm • Category: Tonic • Sub Category: Tonify Qi |
Dosage9-30g, 30-60g exceptional cases |
Actions1. Tonifies the Spleen & augments the qi: for Spleen deficiency presenting with lack of appetite, fatigue, & diarrhea.
2. Raises the yang qi of the Spleen & Stomach: for prolapse disorders such as prolapsed uterus, stomach, or rectum; also for uterine bleeding.
3. Augments the protective qi & stabilizes the exterior: for deficiency with spontaneous sweating, as the herb stabilizes the protective qi. It also tonifies the Lungs & is used for frequent colds or shortness of breath. Depending on the combination of herbs, it may be used for excessive sweating associated with qi, yang, or yin deficiency. Its action in stabilizing the exterior may be used to produce a therapeutic sweat when diaphoretics do not work.
4. Tonifies the qi & blood: for post partum fever due to qi & blood deficiency. Also used in the recovery stage from severe loss of blood.
5. Promotes urination & reduces edema: for edema from deficiency.
6. Promotes the discharge of pus & generates flesh: for chronic ulceration & sores due to deficiency that have formed pus but have not drained or healed well.
7. In appropriate circumstances, for wasting & thirsting disorder, numbness of the limbs, paralysis, & painful obstruction. |
MeridiansLung, Spleen |
CautionsSince this herb raises the yang, tonifies the qi, & stabilizes the exterior, it should no be used in cases of exterior excess, qi stagnation, damp obstruction, food stagnation, yin deficiency with heat signs, or skin lesions neither in their early stages nor where there is heat toxin. |
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Ma Huang Gen / Ephedra Root |
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Taste: Sweet • Temperature: Neutral • Category: Stabilize & Bind • Sub Category: |
Dosage3-10g |
ActionsStops sweating caused by deficiency: for many kinds of sweating associated with deficiency including spontaneous sweating due to qi deficiency, night sweats due to yin deficiency, & post partum sweating. |
MeridiansLungs |
CautionsContraindicated for exterior disorders. |
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Fu Xiao Mai / Wheat Grain (not quite ripe) |
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Taste: • Temperature: • Category: Calm Shen; Stabilize & Bind • Sub Category: |
Dosage9-15g |
Actions |
Meridians |
Cautions |