Acupuncture with Chinese Herbs Converted Amenorrhea to Normal, Healthy Cycles
A 16-year-old girl was referred by her mother to my clinic for amenorrhea that had been ongoing for 11 months. Her first menstruation appeared at the end of her fourteenth year. Her menstruation was every three to five months, bleeding for two to three days, with a small volume of purple-dark blood containing clots. She consulted with Western medical doctors, but her test results were normal. She did not use hormone replacement therapy because her mother suggested she try Chinese herbs first. School work caused her to sleep poorly, so she was always fatigued. She had no other symptoms. She had no back or abdominal pain. Her appetite was normal, with one bowel movement a day with stool intermittently containing slightly undigested food, and normal urination. Examination revealed she was thin with a pale red facial color. Her tongue was pale red with slight teeth marks on the edges and a thin, white tongue coating. Her pulse was weak, deep and slow with 60 bpm.
Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, menstruation relates to Kidney essence and Spleen Qi. Her condition was deficiency in Kidney essence and Spleen Qi. The treatment principle was to tonify the Kidney essence, strengthen the Spleen and tonify Qi. The Chinese herbal formula selected for this case was a modified version of You Gui Wan and Gui Pi Tang. The herbs included (Formula I) Huang Qi, Dang Shen, Bai Zhu, Dang Gui, Chuan Xiong, Shu Di Huang, Tu Si Zi, Rou Gui, Lu Jiao Shuang, Xian Mao, Xian Ling Pi and Gou Qi Zi. The formula was 50g of herbal powder prescription for one week to be taken orally three times a day, 2g per dose, mixed with about 2- 3 oz. of warm water.
After taking her Chinese herbal formula for a few days, her mother called to report that she had a tiny nasal discharge with dark color once at a night before going to bed, which meant the Chinese herbal formula was starting to work. It was similar to menstruation, except that the direction of the energy was moving the wrong way in her particular condition. However, this event meant that her menstruation should come soon, and her mother was happy with this explanation. After a few weeks of taking her Chinese herbal formula, her mother called to report that she had tiny vaginal discharge with dark color, which meant her menstruation came. After about a few weeks of taking her Chinese herbal formula, her menstruation appeared with a dark small volume of blood for two days.
After a few weeks of taking the same Chinese herbal formula, however, her menstruation didn’t appear on time again. I changed her Chinese herbal formula (Formula II) to include Dang Gui, Chuan Xiong, Tao Ren, Hong Hua, Pu Huang, Yi Mu Cao, Xiang Fu, Zhi Shi, Yan Hu Suo and Gui Zhi. This formula was to invigorate Blood and move Qi to start menstruation. After a few days of taking Formula II, she menstruated with medium volume of dark blood for five days. Subsequently, her menstruation came regularly monthly for five to seven days, and her pulse was 72 bpm. Her mother reported she had two to three acne pimples on her face with menstruation, this sign means that her Kidney essence and Spleen Qi changed and started to work normally. She continued taking Formula I to set herself up for regular menstruation. But after about 6 months of Formula I, her menstruation was heavy with red blood for twelve days. Another formula (Formula III) was created to control her heavy bleeding and shorten her menstruation. The herbs included Huang Qi, Dang Shen, Shan Yao, Bai Zhu, Fu Ling, San Qi, Pu Huang, Xian He Cao, Qian Cao, Ce Bai Ye, Mu Dan Pi, Mu Li and Hai Piao Xiao. After taken Formula III, she menstruated every month with medium amount blood, seven-day menstruations with twenty-five-day cycles. Her mother reported two years later that her daughter still had regular monthly cycle.