当归补血汤

3. Tongue and pulse

• Tongue: Pale tongue body with thin white coating.
• Pulse: Surging and large but deficient, forceless on firm pressure.

4. Common modifications

• For severe qi and blood deficiency with palpitations and insomnia: add Suan Zao Ren (spine date seed) and Long Yan Rou (longan flesh), or combine with Gui Pi Tang (Spleen-Returning Decoction).
• For postpartum blood deficiency with abdominal pain: add E Jiao (donkey-hide gelatin) and Ai Ye (mugwort leaf) to nourish blood, stop bleeding, warm the uterus, and relieve pain.
• For sores and ulcers that fail to close for a long time: add Jin Yin Hua (honeysuckle flower) and Gan Cao (licorice root) to clear heat, resolve toxicity, expel toxin, and generate flesh.

5. Cautions and clinical notes

• Contraindications:
  • Not to be used in cases of yin deficiency with tidal fever, marked by heat in the palms and soles, dry mouth and throat, and a red tongue with scant coating. Mistaken use of the warming, tonifying Huang Qi (astragalus root) in such cases is like adding fuel to fire.
  • Not suitable for common cold with fever, or for patterns of excess qi.
  • The "heat" addressed by this formula is fever due to blood deficiency, which must be strictly distinguished from externally contracted excess-heat patterns.

6. Granule conversion and dose

• Calculation of the total raw herb weight in the original formula:
  • Huang Qi (astragalus root) 30 g + Dang Gui (dong quai root) 6 g = 36 g.
• Conversion to 5:1 granules:
  • 36 g raw herb ÷ 5 = 7.2 g granules.
• Recommended dose:
  • One dose daily, taken warm on an empty stomach, dissolved and taken in two portions, morning and evening, about 4 g per dose.
  • Or as directed by a practitioner. This is a base formula, and in clinical practice modifications are often added according to the severity of blood deficiency; in that case the total raw herb weight must be recalculated after adjustment.