How much Chinese medicine is suitable to drink?

Although Western medicine technology is becoming more and more advanced and has become a common medicine in people's daily lives, for the sake of their own health, many people still choose to take Chinese medicine to slowly regulate their bodies after suffering from some chronic diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine mainly uses Chinese medicinal materials to treat human diseases, so it needs to be decocted before drinking it. How much Chinese medicinal water boiled from Chinese medicinal materials is appropriate to drink?

Precautions for taking Chinese medicine

1 Time

The time of taking medicine should be determined according to the condition.

If the disease is in the upper part of the body (heart and lungs), in order to make the medicine stay longer, it is better to take it after meals; if the disease is in the lower part of the body (bladder and intestines), in order to make the medicine work quickly, it is better to take it before meals; heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs, laxatives and tonic drugs should be taken on an empty stomach, when the stomach is empty and easy to absorb. The so-called taking the medicine on an empty stomach means taking the medicine 1 hour before breakfast or 1 hour after dinner. Special medicines should be taken specially. For example, digestive aids should be taken with a small meal before taking them to help the drug work; anthelmintics should be taken on an empty stomach in the morning, and some sugar water should be drunk before taking them to enhance the insecticidal effect; laxatives should be stopped immediately after defecation; sedatives, tonics, and anti-aging drugs should be taken before bedtime; sleeping pills should be taken 2 hours before bedtime; and antimalarial drugs should be taken 2 hours before an attack. Emergency medications are not restricted by time, while patients with chronic diseases who often take pills, powders, pastes, and wine should take them on time. If you have difficulty sweating, you can shorten the medication time to facilitate sweating.

2. Temperature

Decoctions should be taken warm when treating general diseases, and special methods of administration should be used for special treatment situations.

When taking medicines that regulate qi, heat can easily relieve the symptoms, while coolness can increase stagnation; when taking medicines that activate blood, replenish blood, cool blood, and stop bleeding, coldness can cause blood stasis, while heat can cause boiling. When taking antidotes, it is best to take them cold so that the stagnant poison can be easily discharged. Taking them hot can increase the efficiency of dispersing the poison.

For fever, it is better to take the medicine cold (such as Sihu Decoction), while for cold disease, it is better to take it hot, to disperse and attack downward to help the efficacy of the medicine.

Those that promote blood circulation, unblock the meridians and reach the tendons and bones should be taken hot, while those that astringe, consolidate semen and stop bleeding should be taken cold.

Medicines for relieving restlessness, quenching thirst and removing heat should be taken while hot. Medicines for relieving exterior symptoms are mostly pungent and dispersing, which can disperse the skin surface and should be taken while hot.

Heat-clearing and heat-relieving medicines should be taken cold. For severe fever, cold medicines should be taken warm; for severe cold, hot medicines should be taken cold.

3. Dosage

Chinese herbal decoctions are all prepared by decocting the decoction 2 to 3 times and then taking the decoction in divided doses according to clinical needs. Generally, 150 ml is appropriate each time. When fever patients take heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs, the amount of liquid medicine can be slightly larger to enhance the efficacy of the medicine; for thirst-quenching drugs, the amount of liquid medicine should also be larger and can be taken frequently instead of tea. People with strong bodies should take more medicine, while people with weak bodies, such as children and seriously ill patients, should take less medicine. Generally, children under 1 year old use 1/5 of the adult dose, those aged 1 to 3 years old use 1/4 of the adult dose; those aged 4 to 7 years old use 1/3 of the adult dose; those aged 8 to 10 years old use half of the adult dose; and those aged 10 years and above can use the adult dose.

4. Number of times

Decoctions are generally taken twice a day, morning and evening, and heat-clearing and detoxifying medicines are taken 3 to 4 times a day. Rehydration medicine should be taken once in the morning and once in the evening, diaphoretic medicine can be taken 2 to 3 times, and the medicine juice can be taken several times in small amounts.