Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 80: The Leaking Sweat Syndrome

An hour later, Gu Xiaoya had already contacted twenty eligible patients and arranged for clinical trials to begin next week.

The two of them organized the patent application materials together—though it was mainly Gu Xiaoya doing the work.

"The polysaccharide structure of the mutant foxtail grass is highly compatible with corneal mucin," Gu Xiaoya explained as she organized, "and the trace elements provided by the Pearl Powder can directly nourish the optic nerve..."

This was the explanation from a Western medical perspective.

Li Xu noted it down carefully.

By the time the last document was organized, it was already noon.

"Thank you, Dr. Gu. Let me treat you to lunch," Li Xu offered.

Gu Xiaoya hesitated for a moment, then looked down and said, "Lunch can wait. Could you... could you give me another massage? It felt better yesterday, but it was a little uncomfortable again this morning."

"No problem."

Li Xu agreed without hesitation.

This was also a perfect chance for him to practice his hands-on technique.

The break room wasn’t large, containing only a narrow bed and a simple wardrobe.

Gu Xiaoya closed the door, and the space instantly became quiet.

She lay on the bed, her body somewhat tense.

"Relax..." Li Xu’s voice was calm. "Imagine your muscles are like melting butter..."

His thumbs began to apply pressure, pressing down along the line of her shoulders and neck.

Gu Xiaoya’s muscles gradually relaxed, and her breathing became deep and even.

Suddenly, there was a twinge of pain.

"There’s a serious blockage here," Li Xu explained softly. "The stagnation in your Liver Meridian has worsened again."

Li Xu’s pressure gradually increased, following the "three parts light, seven parts heavy" method, just as recorded in the *Commentary on the Art and Literature Record*.

Compared to yesterday, his technique was more skillful.

Li Xu could feel the stiff knots under his fingers slowly dissolving, and Gu Xiaoya’s breathing became smoother in response.

A short while later, Li Xu realized he couldn’t hear any stirring. He glanced down to find she had fallen asleep, her lips parted slightly like an exhausted child.

"Well..."

Li Xu shook his head. It seemed treating her to lunch was off the table.

He quietly pulled a nearby blanket over her. Then he closed the door and left. He sent her a message promising to treat her to a meal next time as a thank you.

...

In the infusion room of the Weimin Clinic, Zhang Shufen was curled up in a chair, wrapped in a down jacket her daughter had brought her.

She had asked Han Weimin to turn off the air conditioning, but she was still so cold her teeth were chattering.

She’d had three IV drips yesterday and another three today, with no effect whatsoever.

Han Weimin was getting nervous himself.

He was starting to get scared.

Zhang Shufen’s illness was too strange.

He worried it was some intractable disease. If his delay made things worse, his clinic would never recover.

After she finished the three IV drips, he took the initiative and suggested, "Sister, the IVs aren’t working. You should go to the hospital and get it checked out. See what the machines say."

Zhang Shufen shook her head. "I’ve been to the hospital. The doctor said it was some kind of autonomic nervous system disorder... They prescribed medicine, but it didn’t cure me."

Han Weimin said, "Then go to the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Let them prescribe something to regulate your system."

"Alright."

Zhang Shufen left the clinic, still bundled in her down jacket.

"Sister Zhang, Sister Zhang..."

Just as she stepped outside, she ran into Li Aiyin, who was sweeping.

Li Aiyin pulled her aside and whispered, "Why are you still seeing him? Didn’t I tell you? You should go to Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic. Li Xu inherited his father’s medical skills; he’s amazing."

Zhang Shufen shook her head. "I wanted to go, but his clinic is never open. No one was there yesterday, and no one was there this morning either."

Li Aiyin said with exasperation, "Sigh, what has that boy been up to? Don’t worry, I’ll give him a call..."

"Sister Li, there’s no need."

Zhang Shufen waved her hand dismissively. "I’ll just go to the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

Li Aiyin lowered her phone. "That works too. Go to the hospital and let the machines check you out first."

...

In the outpatient lobby of the District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhang Shufen sat on a waiting room chair, still wrapped in that heavy down jacket.

"Number 6, Zhang Shufen, please come to the internal medicine consultation room."

When her number was called over the broadcast, Zhang Shufen struggled to her feet.

A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she had to lean against the wall for support.

The shirt under her down jacket was soaked through again. Sweat trickled down the inside of her thighs, dampening the clean cotton pants she had just changed into.

Inside consultation room #3, Guo Yu was organizing the previous patient’s file.

Seeing Zhang Shufen enter, he looked up with a smile. "Please, have a seat. What seems to be the trouble?"

Zhang Shufen sat down slowly and, with trembling lips, began to recount the nightmare of the past three months: the abnormal sweating after a cold, the unbearable chills, the experience of seeking treatment everywhere... As she spoke of the emotional parts, her voice choked up.

Guo Yu listened quietly.

When Zhang Shufen mentioned that she had to wear winter clothes even at the height of noon, he nodded thoughtfully.

"Stick out your tongue for me," Guo Yu said.

Zhang Shufen stuck out her tongue.

The tongue was pale, with a thin, white, and slippery coating.

Guo Yu’s brow furrowed slightly. He then had her switch wrists so he could take her pulse.

"The pulse is deep, thin, and weak..." Guo Yu murmured to himself, then turned to the intern beside him, Miaoli. "Dr. Miao, what are your thoughts?"

Miaoli analyzed, a bit nervously, "The patient has sweating and chills, which suggests an unstable exterior due to deficiency... but for it to be this severe in the summer is indeed rare."

Guo Yu nodded and turned to Zhang Shufen. "You said this started after a cold. What medicine did you take at the time?"

Zhang Shufen recalled, "First, I took some fever reducers, then I went for IV drips. I had them for a few days, but they didn’t work."

Guo Yu turned to Miaoli. "The patient is prone to catching colds, which indicates a constitutional Yang Qi deficiency. After her cold, the repeated sweat-inducing treatments from both Chinese and Western medicine further damaged her exterior Yang. This destabilized her defensive Qi, creating an imbalance between nutritive and defensive Qi, leading to incessant sweating, aversion to wind, and fear of cold."

He pulled a copy of the *Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Warm Pathogenic Diseases* from the bookshelf and flipped to a page. "This is the syndrome of ’leaking sweat,’ as described in Article 20."

Miaoli leaned in to look and had a moment of realization. "’For a Taiyang-stage disease, if after inducing sweat, it leaks without stopping, the person has an aversion to wind, difficulty urinating, and slight tension in the limbs making it difficult to bend and stretch, the primary prescription is Cinnamon and Aconite Decoction’!"

Guo Yu nodded in approval. "Exactly. The patient’s prolonged sweating not only damages Yang but can also deplete Qi and injure Yin."

He pointed to Zhang Shufen’s tongue. "You see, the tongue coating lacks moisture. This is a sign of injury to both Qi and Yin."

Listening to the two doctors discuss her condition using professional terminology she didn’t understand, Zhang Shufen still felt a glimmer of hope for the first time in three months, thanks to Guo Yu’s confident tone.

"Doctor... can my illness be cured?" she asked cautiously.

Guo Yu put down the *Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Warm Pathogenic Diseases* and smiled gently. "Of course. I’ll write you a prescription. Take three doses first, and we’ll see how it goes."

He dictated while Miaoli typed on the keyboard: "The main formula is Cinnamon and Aconite Decoction, to harmonize the nutritive and defensive Qi, and to warm the Yang and secure the exterior. Cinnamon Soup harmonizes the nutritive and defensive Qi, while Aconite warms the Yang and secures the exterior..."

Miaoli occasionally asked a question: "Director Guo, won’t using Aconite in the summer be too ’heating’?"

"Good question," Guo Yu explained as he wrote. "It’s hot in the summer, so there is a risk that being too warming and tonifying could excessively raise Yang and consume Yin. Therefore, the dosage of Aconite must be small. I’m only using 6 grams here."

He continued writing, "Since excessive sweating has damaged Qi and Yin, we’ll add Shengmai San to supplement Qi and nourish Yin. Because her constitution has insufficient defensive Qi, we’ll add Yupingfeng San to supplement Qi and secure the exterior. We’ll also add 30 grams of Fuxiaomai to astringe and stop the sweating."

The prescription was printed out, and Guo Yu gave detailed instructions on how to prepare and take it: "Decoct the Aconite by itself for 40 minutes first, then add the other herbs and decoct for another 20 minutes. One dose per day, taken warm in two separate servings."

Zhang Shufen took the prescription with both hands as if it were a life-saving straw. "Doctor, this medicine... will it really stop the sweating?"

Guo Yu answered with great confidence, "Of course it will. Yours is a classic case of the ’leaking sweat’ syndrome. How many times a day do you have to change your clothes right now?"

"At least five or six times..." Zhang Shufen said. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Once the medicine targets the root cause, the effects will be very fast. By tomorrow, it should be down to two or three times. Remember to come back for a follow-up visit in three days."