The past few days, several of my patients asked me the question that is common to most people who are using Chinese herbal medicine: should I continue to take my Chinese herbs if I am sick? It is a good question, and the answer is a bit complex.
My primary response to this question is that you should immediately contact me (or whoever prescribed your herbs) and ask. There is not one rule about when to stop taking herbs during illness. The decision depends on the patient, the illness, the symptoms, the severity, the importance of the formula in question, and the formula itself.
As a general overview, herbs that are tonifying or supplementing should likely be discontinued during the acute phase of illness, as they may aggravate the condition by countering the appropriate movement of Qi in the body when dealing with externally induced illness such as cold and flu. For example, if a person is presenting with Tai Yang symptoms such as chills, fever and body aches, herbs that are heavy and tonifying such as rehmannia root (shu di huang) can interfere with the body’s natural surface relieving action. When an acute climactic factor such as cold or wind are lodged at the surface of the body, warm and acrid herbs such as cinnamon twig (gui zhi) and fresh ginger root (sheng jiang) are needed to “resolve the exterior.” This means they warm the body, move the Qi upward, open the pores and produce sweating. Thick, heavy herbs move in the opposite direction.
There are endless combinations of herbal formulas and symptoms, and that is why it is always best to just ask if regularly used herbs should be continued or temporarily stopped until symptoms are resolved. Unless a regularly used formula is critical for some reason that requires ongoing use (such as hypertension), it is always safe to stop if you are uncertain.
Equally as important as stopping herbs if they are not appropriate to use during illness, is to use herbs that are appropriate and helpful during illness. You cannot bypass acute symptoms, pretending they do not matter and continuing with treatment as usual. The entire focus of Chinese medicine is on responding to what is happening in the moment – where is the Qi, how is it moving, how are the organs, is there heat or cold, etc. For this reason, properly treating acute illness using acupuncture and Chinese herbs is important in long term health and resolution of chronic conditions.
If you are sick and not sure what to do, temporarily stop taking your regular Chinese herbs. In addition, contact me or your provider to ask, and preferably change over to an acute formula to help resolve the illness. It is always a judgement whether to call right away or wait and see if symptoms improve. The problem is that if the illness moves fast and symptoms get worse, they are now more difficult to treat. It is easiest to treat symptoms the moment they first appear. In addition, it is likely that I may have treated other people with the same condition, and thus have a sense of how it tends to progress or linger.
Chinese medicine is effective at both the treatment and management of acute illness in relation to chronic conditions.