title | Medical Cases of Liu Shaowu |
smart_toy
bubble_chart Content Thirty years ago, I treated a patient who suffered from cold-damage disease during the winter months, which persisted for over forty days without relief. The patient's condition progressed from high fever and dysphoria to cold extremities and a comatose state, unresponsive to calls, yet still able to swallow when fed with soup or water, lasting more than ten days. Upon examination, the patient's entire body was cold, cus kou and the anterior tibial pulse were absent, the abdomen felt soft upon palpation, and upon opening the eyelids, both eyes were red as if wrapped in blood. Considering the severity of the condition, yet it had not deteriorated over ten days, it was concluded that the healthy qi had not yet collapsed internally. The red eyes indicated a sign of intense heat, with pathogenic heat internally trapped and yang unable to extend, embodying the saying "the deeper the heat, the deeper the cold." Consequently, a large dose of White Tiger Decoction was prescribed, with Gypsum heavily used at one jin and Anemarrhena at five liang, decocted into a large basin, and the patient was instructed to be frequently fed with it. After half the dose was consumed, the patient's fever surged dramatically, and the patient awoke shouting, "I'm burning up!" Half a day later, the entire dose was consumed but the fever did not subside. With the medicine running short, it was during the Great Snow (21st solar term), so snowballs were made and fed to the patient, consuming nine larger than fist-sized snowballs, after which the fever subsided and the patient was stabilized.