My stomach is rumbling after taking Chinese medicine

Many people experience rumbling sounds in their stomachs after drinking Chinese medicine. This is a very normal phenomenon because people will have certain gastrointestinal reactions after drinking Chinese medicine. If this happens, the patient only needs to stop taking the medicine for a while, and then take the medicine again after the stomach and intestines have adapted. In addition, there are still many taboos when drinking Chinese medicine. Here is some relevant knowledge about taking Chinese medicine.

1. Is it normal to have a rumbling stomach after taking Chinese medicine?

Chinese medicines all have certain gastrointestinal reactions. In this case, there will be certain noises. Don't worry, you will get better after stopping the medicine.

2. Contraindications of using Chinese medicine

The contraindications of taking Chinese medicine can be roughly divided into four categories:

(1) Contraindications for the use of Chinese medicine: Certain drugs may produce opposite or antagonistic effects after formulation, which may reduce the efficacy of each other or cause toxic and side effects. Therefore, they should not be used together.

(2) Contraindications for use of drugs by pregnant women: Mainly to avoid fetal movement and abortion. Most pregnant women have poor tolerance to extremely cold or hot drugs, strong laxatives, blood-breaking and blood-stasis-removing drugs, and highly toxic drugs. Therefore, the relevant drugs must be avoided.

(3) Dietary taboos during medication: commonly known as dietary taboos, they are mainly to avoid interference factors when taking medicine in order to improve the efficacy of the medicine. They can be divided into two categories: dietary taboos corresponding to a certain medicine and dietary taboos when taking medicine under different disease conditions. For example, dietary taboos during medication include ginseng and radish, turtle shell and amaranth, licorice and silver carp, shanshan and onion, and poria and vinegar. The latter means that when taking medicine for chronic diseases, one should avoid eating raw or cold food; during the treatment of febrile diseases, one should avoid eating spicy and greasy food; for carbuncles, ulcers, and skin diseases, one should avoid eating fish, shrimp, goose meat, and spicy food.

(4) Chinese herbal medicine decoctions should not be taken overnight: because Chinese herbal medicine contains starch, sugar, protein, vitamins, volatile oils, amino acids, various enzymes, trace elements and other ingredients. Most of these ingredients are dissolved in the decoction during boiling. The general method of administration is to take half of the medicine while it is still warm, and then take the other half 4 to 6 hours later. If taken overnight or stored for too long, not only will the efficacy of the medicine be reduced, but the effects of air, temperature, time, bacterial contamination and other factors will cause the enzyme decomposition in the medicine to become less effective, bacteria to multiply and breed, and starch, sugar nutrients and other components to ferment and hydrolyze, causing the medicine to become rancid and deteriorate, which is harmful to human health after taking it.

3. Three major misunderstandings about traditional Chinese medicine

Myth 1: The more expensive the product, the more supplements it will provide

Some people believe that the more expensive a Chinese herbal medicine[2] is, the more tonic it is, and they often spend a lot of money to buy Chinese herbal medicines such as deer antler and ginseng. In fact, these tonic effects may not necessarily be good. "Replenish what is lacking" is the basic principle of tonic. The efficacy of Chinese medicine should not be divided by the price. The key is to choose the corresponding tonic according to your own physical constitution, especially for the elderly, who should take practicality as the principle of tonic.

Myth 2: The more you take, the better

The saying "take more tonic medicines to cure diseases and strengthen the body when you are healthy" is very unscientific. Eating a lot of tonic food in winter will suddenly increase the burden on the spleen, stomach and liver, making it difficult for the digestive organs, which have been in a weak state for a long time, to bear it, leading to digestive system dysfunction.

Myth 3: Not distinguishing between reality and fiction

The treatment principle of traditional Chinese medicine is "tonic for the weak", and people who are not weak should not take tonic. Even if it is weak, there are qi deficiency, blood deficiency, yang deficiency, and yin deficiency. The human body organs are divided into heart deficiency, lung deficiency, liver deficiency, spleen deficiency, and kidney deficiency. Before taking tonic, it is best to consult a professional doctor and combine the performance characteristics of various tonics to apply them according to the symptoms. For example, people with hot constitution are not suitable for taking warm medicines such as ginseng, deer antler, and seahorse.