Movement Disorder & Seizures
At 11 months old, her legs started to cramp, twitching every 20 to 30 seconds. The seizure last for about 40 minutes, yet her western medicine doctor was not able to identify what went wrong.
Similar seizures occurred several times during the time when she was 1 to 3 years old, and the symptoms got worse each time. Both her hands and feet cramped. The patient, too weak to control her hands and feet, was unable to stand by her own. Her whole body was unusually tight during the seizure sometimes.
In January 2016, the patient got a cold and fever, after which the seizure returned. The situation became much severe. On top of previous symptoms, the patient started drooling. She even had trouble talking.
Physicians at Stanford Lucile Packard Children ‘s Hospital examined the patient. They determined that the patient’s left brain had irregular current responses, but they were not able to find the cause. The patient was prescribed drugs to slow down her brain function. As a result of taking this kind of medication, she might suffer from slow learning at this young age. The approach not aiming at the root cause would not produce a cure!
After taking brain-suppressing drugs for over two months , the patient still suffered from irregular seizures and the loss of control over her hands, feet , neck, face, and mouth. Her condition was getting worse. The western medicine physicians couldn’t do anything but increase the drug dosage. They suggested that patients hospitalize for a month , doing 24-hour monitoring in order to do an MRI scan at any time. By doing this, the physicians hoped they could find the cause.
Patient’s parents decided to seek help from the Chinese medicine.
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- Treatment Logic：get water upward to the head, strengthen the spleen, and remove phlegm.
- Herb formula: Guizhi (Cassiabarktree branchlet), Baishao (Root of common peony), Zhigancao (Honey-roasted root of ural licorice), Hongzao (Chinese dates), Shengjiang (Rhizome of common ginger), Gegen (Root of lobed kudzuvine), Baizhu (Rhizome of largehead atractylodes), Fuling (Indian bread), Zhuling (Agaric), Zexie (Rhizome of oriental waterplantain), Chenpi (Tangerine peel), Shengbanxia (Rhizome of ternate pinellia), Maiyatang (Maltose)
- Better appetite after taking the prescribed Chinese Classic herb formula.
- Increase of stool amount.
- More willingness to play with other kids at school.
- Better face complexion indicating improved health condition.
- Three occurrences of mild seizures after stopping all western medicine. For one day, the patient felt weak and tired.
- Formula adjustment: increase the amount of Baishao (Root of common peony), other being the same.
- Only one occurrence of seizure in 2 weeks.The patient’s left hand was shaking for 45 minutes, but she could still control it.
- Teachers at school said the patient’s learning ability was improved, the motion control of her hands was much improved.
- The patient got a cold, had cough, experienced body balance problem, and was weak overall.
- At 4am, the patient had a fever of 101.3 F, or 38.5 C. Her parent gave her Tylenol (Acetaminophen) to reduce the fever. At 7am, the patient’s hands and lips began to twitch. The parent gave her western medicine trying to control the seizure. The patient fell asleep for 3 hours. When she woke up at 11am, her body temperature dropped to 99.5 F, or 37.5 C.
- The parents said the recovery this time was much faster than before. In the past when similar situation occurred, the patients needed to be sent to the emergency room to get the symptoms calmed down.
- Herb formula adjustment: Used Xiaoqinglong formula and Baixia-houpu formula to treat cold.
- The patient was initially recovering from the cold. Last night, the cough got worse. The patient lost control of her limbs for 12 times.
- Formula adjustment: prescribed Maimendong formula, Buzhongyiqi formula, and Suanzaoren herb powder for temporary use.
- The patients recovered from the cold. The only leftover symptom was mild cough. She slept well, with no symptoms of motion disorder or seizures.
- Formula prescribed (returned to the original formula): Guizhi (Cassiabarktree branchlet), Baishao (Root of common peony), Zhigancao (Honey-roasted root of ural licorice), Hongzao (Chinese dates), Shengjiang (Rhizome of common ginger), Gegen (Root of lobed kudzuvine), Baizhu (Rhizome of largehead atractylodes), Fuling (Indian bread), Zhuling (Agaric), Zexie (Rhizome of oriental waterplantain), Chenpi (Tangerine peel), Shengbanxia (Rhizome of ternate pinellia), Maiyatang (Maltose), Suanzaoren (Seed of common jujube), Huangqi (Root of membranous milkvetch), Shengma (Rhizome of largetrifoliolious bugbane), Renshen (Ginseng root)
Gouty Arthritis (Gout)
He suffered from the swelling pain in the right hallux (big toe) joints, unable to walk. The pain was severe at night and milder during the day.
The patient had two experiences of gout in the past, both in the same location.
He complained his hands and feet would turn cold after having coffee.
He slept ok with only occasional wake- up during 1 to 3am, then was able to fall asleep again.
The eye diagnosis found out there were irregular signs in the part of the eye corresponding to liver function.
- Treatment Logic: cold-dampness trapped and accumulated in joints
- Herb Formula: Paofuzi (Processed root of common monkshood), Zhigancao (Honey-roasted root of ural licorice), Guizhi (Cassiabarktree branchlet), Baizhu (Rhizome of largehead atractylodes), Niuxi (Root of Chinese eupatorium), Shengfuzi (Root of common monkshood), Ganjiang (Dried ginger)
Special Instructions: Take the herb soup every 3 hours, and go to bed upon the feeling of sleepiness and dizziness.
The patient felt more pain during the first few hours upon taking the first herb soup. He went to sleep after taking the herb soup for 3 times. One day later, the inflammation and pain were reduced to about 10%~20% of the original level. He was able to walk, to endure the pain when pressing the aching joint, and to sleep well without waking up in pain in the middle of a night. Three days later, only some mild pain was left. Now (on the day of the return visit), the pain was completely gone.
Bell’s Palsy / Facial Paralysis
She was struck by a sudden facial paralysis. Her face was pulled and twisted to the right side. She had problems closing her left eye with tears dripping and eyelids twitching. Her mouth was too crooked to close up fully. At the time of her clinic visit, it had been over a week since the strike of facial paralysis (Bell’s Palsy).
Herb Formula: Gegen(Root of lobed kudzuvine), Mahuang(Chinese ephedra), Guizhi(Cassiabarktree branchlet), Baishao(Root of common peony), Shengjiang(Rhizome of common ginger), Hongzao(Chinese dates), Zhigancao(Honey-roasted root of ural licorice),Danpi(Root-bark of subshrubby peony), Honghua(safflower flower), Chuangqiong(Rhizome of chuanxiong), Shengbanxia(Rhizome of ternate pinellia), Fangfeng(Root of divaricate saposhnikova), Jinjie(Fineleaf schizonepeta)
Acupuncture Treatment:
- LI4(Hegu) on the right side
- Ex-HN5 through GB8 (Taiyang trough Shuaigu) on the left side
- ST4 though ST6 (Dicang through Jiache) on the left side
- SP10 (Xuehai) on both sides
- GB34 through SP9 (Yanglingquan through Yinlingquan) on both sides
Herb formula: the same as in the previous visit
Acupuncture treatment: two sets – on top of the set as in the previous visit, an additional set was administered to the patient’s right side.
First Set:
- LI4 (Hegu) on the right side
- Ex-HN5 through GB8 (Taiyang trough Shuaigu) on the left side
- ST4 though ST6 (Dicang through Jiache) on the left side
- SP10 (Xuehai) on both sides
- GB34 through SP9 (Yanglingquan through Yinlingquan) on both sides
- LI4 (Hegu) on the left side
- Ex-HN5 through GB8 (Taiyang trough Shuaigu) on the right side
- ST4 though ST6 (Dicang through Jiache) on the right side
- SP10 (Xuehai) on both sides
- GB34 through SP9 (Yanglingquan through Yinlingquan) on both sides
Second Set: (after extracting the first set of needles)
Acupuncture treatment: DU26 (Shuigou), RN24 (Chengjiang) to fix the result.