Mr. Lü, 48 years old, suffered from external contraction syndrome, with fever and chills, aching pain in the limbs, spontaneous sweating, abdominal distension and fullness, difficulty in urination, swelling of the limbs, pitting edema on the legs, dry mouth, white and greasy tongue coating, and a floating and soft pulse. This is a syndrome of external pathogen invasion with water retention. Therefore, Five Ingredients with Poria Powder was modified into a decoction. Prescription:
Cinnamon Twig 10g, Polyporus 12g, Alisma 15g, White Atractylodes Rhizome 10g, Poria 15g
. After taking the decoction, the patient was instructed to drink a cup of hot water to enhance the medicinal effect and to cover warmly to induce slight sweating. After one dose, sweating occurred, fever and chills reduced, urination slightly improved, abdominal discomfort eased, but irritability increased, and the pulse became slightly rapid. This indicated that the pathogen had transformed into heat. Cinnamon Twig, being pungent and warm, could exacerbate heat and irritability. Since the external pathogen had been resolved, Cinnamon Twig was reduced to 5g, and Talc 15g and Areca Peel 12g were added to clear heat, relieve distension, and promote urination. After taking three consecutive doses, urination became smooth, the mouth was no longer dry, swelling of the limbs subsided, and abdominal distension disappeared, leading to recovery. This confirmed that the use of Cinnamon Twig in Five Ingredients with Poria Powder is to disperse the external pathogen.