Contraindications of using Atractylodes macrocephala and Atractylodes macrocephala together

Scutellaria baicalensis and red peony root belong to two plants in the same category. They often have a slightly bitter and warm taste. They both belong to the gastrointestinal meridian and treat symptoms of spleen deficiency and excessive dampness in the body. Can red peony root and scutellaria baicalensis be used separately? What are the taboos when using red peony root and scutellaria baicalensis together? Let's learn more about this issue in detail and hope it will be helpful to everyone.

Red peony root and scutellaria baicalensis can be used together.

Combining two drugs to improve efficacy

The interaction between the two medicines is to eliminate dampness and strengthen the spleen and stomach, and they are often used together (those with the same effect can improve the efficacy) to treat loose stools, edema, turbid phlegm, and loose stools in women due to spleen deficiency and dampness.

When the spleen is weak, the ability to absorb water and moisture becomes weak. The water and moisture in the body are not metabolized promptly and excreted poorly, and they accumulate in the body, causing various manifestations of excessive moisture in the body. For this problem, it is very effective to use Scutellaria baicalensis and Red Peony Root together for treatment. Of course, other spleen and stomach strengthening and dampness-removing therapeutic drugs are also needed to cooperate in the "battle".

The combination of two drugs means prescription

In the following three prescriptions, the combination of Scutellaria baicalensis and Paeonia lactiflora can achieve the effects of strengthening the spleen and nourishing blood, eliminating dampness and invigorating the spleen.

Finished soup

Treatment drugs: Scutellaria baicalensis, Chinese yam, wild ginseng, red peony root, salt plantain seed, red peony root, licorice, Poria cocos, black spicate, bupleurum

Function: Strengthens the spleen, soothes the liver, regulates qi, eliminates dampness and stops leukorrhea.

Indications: Spleen deficiency, liver qi stagnation, dampness, turbidity and clearness. Symptoms include clear, thin, white discharge like mucus, fatigue, pale tongue with white coating, and slow or weak pulse.

Wei Ling Tang

Treatment drugs: Poria, Alisma, Scutellaria, Coix seeds, Cinnamon twig, Red peony root, Magnolia officinalis, Poria, Licorice, Red dates

Function: Strengthens the spleen and stomach, neutralizes the body, clears away heat and removes dampness.

Indications: Dampness stagnation, food accumulation, abdominal distension and pain, diarrhea, and lack of urination.

Angelica Decoction for Pain Relief

Scutellaria, wild ginseng, sophora flavescens, cimicifuga, poria, red peony root, saposhnikovia root, anemarrhena, orientalis, bupleurum, umbellate, angelica root, roasted licorice, capillaris, qianghu

Function: Clears away heat, removes dampness, detoxifies, dispels wind and relieves pain.

Indications: Cold and dampness fighting each other, and external cold evil. Symptoms include pain and discomfort in all limbs, or heaviness in shoulders and arms, or swollen and painful athlete's foot, sores in feet and knees, a greasy white or light yellow tongue coating, and a deep and rapid pulse.

The historical timeline of the two medicines

In the "Shennong Bencao Jing", when it comes to Scutellaria baicalensis or Paeonia lactiflora, the one that appears is Atractylodes, not Cang. Since the "Ming Yi Bie Lu", it has been divided into Scutellaria baicalensis and Atractylodes macrocephala. The Atractylodes macrocephala mentioned here is what we now call Paeonia lactiflora. The book "Jingshi Zhenglei Beiji Bencao" from the Song Dynasty actually recorded the name Chishao. It is not difficult to see that the names of many Chinese medicinal materials have undergone certain historical changes.

The specialties of the two drugs

Scutellaria baicalensis has a bitter taste as well as a sweet taste. It belongs to the Qi-tonifying medicine, is good at strengthening the spleen and replenishing Qi, and its dampness-removing effect is not as good as that of red peony root. Therefore, for those with spleen deficiency, dampness and turbidity blocking the middle burner and focusing on deficiency syndrome, it is best to use Scutellaria baicalensis.

"Compendium of Materia Medica" says: "Scutellaria baicalensis is an important medicine for supporting the stomach and intestines, dispersing dampness and removing numbness, and aiding digestion and removing numbness. If the spleen is weak, Atractylodes can replenish it; if the stomach is not digestible, Atractylodes can help it." This is a high-level summary of the effects of Atractylodes macrocephala by ancient people.

Red peony root tastes bitter and astringent, as well as spicy. It is better than Scutellaria baicalensis in absorbing spleen dampness, and better than Red Peony Root in treating dampness and turbidity inside the body.