Insomnia is called “sleeplessness” and “sleeplessness” in Chinese medicine. It can be caused by a variety of reasons, and clinical treatment should be classified according to the different symptoms of tongue and pulse. This is the reason why Chinese medicine treatment of insomnia must look at the tongue, diagnose the pulse and ask about the symptoms in detail.
The following types of insomnia are common in clinical practice.
1.Phlegm-heat internal disturbance type
The symptoms are insomnia, distress, nightmares, easy to wake up, stuffiness and congestion in the stomach and epigastric region, bitterness and nausea, dizziness, loss of appetite, red tongue, yellow or thick greasy coating, and slippery pulse.
The treatment is to resolve phlegm and clear heat, nourish the heart and calm the mind. The formula is Huang Lian Wen Bile Tang.
2.Liver stagnation and fire type
Symptoms include insomnia with irritability, difficulty in sleeping, dreaminess and wakefulness, fullness and discomfort in the chest and hypochondrium, sighing, bitterness and thirst, yellow urine and dry stool, red tongue, yellow fur, and stringiness of the pulse.
The treatment is to remove heat from the liver and to calm the mind. The formula is Gentian Diarrhea Liver Soup or Dan Gardenia Free and Easy San.
3.Heart and spleen deficiency type
Symptoms include difficulty in sleeping, waking up easily after dreaming and not easily going back to sleep after waking up; accompanied by panic and palpitations, easily frightened, forgetfulness, mental fatigue, light and tasteless mouth, abdominal distension after eating, loose stools, light and fat tongue, thin white fur, and weak pulse. Most often seen in people with prolonged illness, blood loss, and old age and weakness.
Treatment is to benefit Qi, strengthen the spleen, nourish the heart and calm the mind. The formula is GUI Spleen Tang.
4.Yin deficiency and fire type
Symptoms are insomnia, heart trouble, heat in the hands and feet, night sleep, night sweating, dry mouth, dry throat, tinnitus, forgetfulness, soreness in the back, sores in the mouth and tongue, red tongue, little moss and no moss, thin pulse.
Treatment is to nourish Yin and lower fire, clear the heart and calm the mind. The formula is Zhi Bai Di Huang Tang or Huang Lian Agaricus Tang.
5.Disordered Stomach Qi
Symptoms are insomnia, gastric and epigastric fullness, hiccups, sour odor, foul-smelling stools, abdominal pain, constipation, poor appetite, cloudy or thick and greasy tongue coating, and string or slippery pulse.
The treatment is to eliminate food stagnation and channel stagnation, harmonize the stomach and calm the mind. The formula is Baohe Pill with Panicum Panicum Soup.
6. Heart and kidney disorder type
Symptoms are disturbed heart and insomnia, fever, dizziness and tinnitus, sore mouth and tongue, dry mouth and sore waist, seminal emission, red tongue and fine pulse.
The treatment is to harmonize yin and yang and to intercourse with the heart and kidney. The formula is Jiaotai Pill with added flavor. For heart yin deficiency, use Tianwang Tonic Heart Pill; for kidney yin deficiency, use Liuwei Dihuang Tang with nightshade vine, sour date palm, helianthus bark, Fu Shen and so on.
7, Heart Yang deficiency cold type
Symptoms are insomnia, fear of cold, cold hands and feet, panic and restlessness, or emptiness in the heart, pressing with the hand, light tongue, weak pulse.
The treatment is to warm the heart yang, calm the mind and tranquilize. The formula is Gui Zhi Gan Cao Long Bone Oyster Soup.
8.Blood stasis blocking the ligament type
The symptoms are insomnia for a long time, difficulty in falling asleep, easy to wake up, nightmares, restlessness, sallow facial skin, wrong skin nail, purple and dark tongue, and poor pulse.
Treatment is to invigorate blood circulation and eliminate blood stasis, nourish the heart and calm the mind. This formula is based on Blood Mansion and Stasis Removal Soup.