What are the side effects of eating Tianma?

Gastrodia elata is a very common Chinese medicine in daily life. It has always been known for its effective treatment of dizziness and headaches, and is therefore often used as medicine to treat related diseases. However, many people do not know that Gastrodia elata also has some side effects, including skin itching, chest tightness, and qi deficiency. If the situation is serious, it may even cause swelling of the whole body or direct coma. Therefore, people need to have a full understanding of this before consuming Gastrodia elata.

1. Side Effects of Gastrodia elata

When taking Gastrodia elata, common side effects include dizziness, chest tightness, purpura, and skin itching. If these occur, you need to stop taking the medicine immediately. Some people may also experience symptoms of swelling all over the body and hair loss. This also requires attention. If you encounter coma or more serious conditions, you should go to the hospital for treatment immediately to avoid life-threatening situations. In daily life, many people use Gastrodia elata as a tonic when they experience dizziness or headaches, but they ignore the side effects of Gastrodia elata. This concept is extremely incorrect. Moreover, because Gastrodia elata is effective in treating headaches, dizziness, etc. caused by hyperactivity of liver yang, it is often taken as a "tonic". Once dizziness occurs, if you use Gastrodia elata without considering the physical condition, the strength of your qi and blood, the same adverse reactions as the patients mentioned above may result. Common adverse reactions to taking Gastrodia elata include dizziness, nausea, chest tightness, skin papules with itching, etc. Some people may experience facial or body edema, or even hair loss. Moreover, this type of reaction will not only occur when using Gastrodia elata alone. Some people will also experience symptoms of allergy to Gastrodia elata after taking decoctions containing Gastrodia elata, such as Pinellia ternata, Atractylodes macrocephala, and Gastrodia elata decoction, or Chinese patent medicines such as Gastrodia elata pills and Gastrodia elata Armillaria sugar-coated tablets.

2. Pay attention to these when eating Gastrodia elata

1. Patients with loss of body fluid, blood deficiency, yin deficiency, etc. should use Gastrodia elata with caution.

2. Pay attention to compatibility and application. "Bencao Yanyi" has the record that "Gastrodia elata must be used together with other medicines to show its efficacy." Doctors in ancient and modern times rarely use Gastrodia elata alone, but mostly formulate prescriptions based on different diseases and symptoms. Such as: Pinellia, Atractylodes and Gastrodia Decoction, Gastrodia elata drink, Gastrodia elata pills, etc. Clinically proven, the effect of using Gastrodia elata alone is poor or uncertain.

3. Even when using Gastrodia elata for symptoms such as hyperactivity of liver yang and phlegm blocking the meridians, it is necessary to carefully examine the condition, understand the pathogenesis, and add or subtract medicine according to the symptoms in order to achieve a good therapeutic effect.

4. Gastrodia elata should not be decocted for a long time. The main component of Gastrodia elata is gastrodin, which is very volatile when heated. When Gastrodia elata is decocted together with other medicines, the effective sedative and analgesic ingredients will be lost due to the heat. Therefore, it is best to moisten Gastrodia elata with a small amount of water first, cut it into thin slices after softening, dry it in the air or in the sun, grind it into powder, take it with the decocted medicine, or grind it into powder and make it into pills or powder for consumption.

5. When using single-ingredient Gastrodia elata or Gastrodia elata preparations, if dizziness, chest tightness, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, rapid heartbeat and breathing, skin itching, etc. occur, the medication should be stopped immediately. If the symptoms are severe, go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment in time.