太阳中风,下利、呕逆、表解者,乃可攻之。其人 汗出、发作有时、头痛、心下痞硬满、引胁下痛、
干呕短气、汗出不恶寒者,此表解里未和也,十枣汤主之。
中风下利呕逆,本葛根加半夏症。若表既解而水气淫溢。不用十枣攻之,胃气大虚,后难为力矣。然下利呕
逆,固为里症,而本于中风,不可不细审其表也。若其人 汗出,似乎表症,然发作有时,则病不在表矣。头
痛是表症,然既不恶寒,又不发热,但心下痞硬而满,胁下牵引而痛,是心下水气泛溢,上攻于脑而头痛也。与“伤
寒不大便六七日而头痛,与承气汤”同。干呕汗出为在表,然而汗出而有时、更不恶寒、干呕而短气为里症也明矣。
此可以见表之风邪已解,而里之水气不和也。然诸水气为患,或喘、或渴、或噎、或悸、或烦、或利而不吐、或吐
而不利、或吐利而无汗。此则外走皮毛而汗出,上走咽喉而呕逆,下走肠胃而下利,浩浩莫御,非得利水之峻剂以
直折之,中气不支矣。此十枣之剂,与五苓、青龙、泻心等法悬殊矣。
太阳阳明合病,太阳少阳合病,俱下利呕逆,皆是太阳中风病根。
十枣汤∶
芫花(熬赤) 甘遂 大戟(各等分)
上三味,各异捣筛,称已,合治之。以水一升半,煮大肥枣十枚,取八合,去枣,内药末。强人服一钱匕,
羸人半钱,温服之,平旦服。若下少病不愈者,明日更服加半钱。得快下利后,糜粥自养。
Taiyang wind-stroke (Taiyang wind-stroke, a syndrome caused by wind pathogen invading the Taiyang channel), presenting with diarrhea and vomiting/retching, if the exterior syndrome has resolved, may then be treated with purgation. If the patient has sweating, occurring at specific times, headache, fullness and hardness in the epigastrium (epigastric region), pain radiating to the hypochondrium, dry retching, shortness of breath, sweating without aversion to cold, this indicates that the exterior is resolved but the interior is disharmonious; Shizao Tang (Ten Jujube Decoction) should be used to govern it.
Wind-stroke causing diarrhea and vomiting/retching originally belongs to the indication for Gegen Jiaban Xia Zhu Tang (Pueraria and Pinellia Decoction). If the exterior is already resolved but water qi overflows, failing to use Shizao Tang to attack the water will lead to severe deficiency of Stomach Qi, making subsequent treatment difficult. However, although diarrhea and vomiting/retching are interior syndromes, they originate from wind-stroke, so one must carefully examine whether the exterior is truly resolved. If the patient sweats, it seems like an exterior syndrome, but since it occurs at specific times, the disease is not in the exterior. Headache is typically an exterior syndrome, but if there is no aversion to cold or fever, only fullness and hardness in the epigastrium with radiating pain in the hypochondrium, this is due to water qi overflowing from the heart area, attacking upward to the head causing headache. This is similar to "Shanghan (Cold Damage) with constipation for six or seven days accompanied by headache, treated with Chengqi Tang." Dry retching and sweating suggest the pathogen is in the exterior, yet sweating occurring at specific times, combined with no aversion to cold, and dry retching with shortness of breath, clearly indicate an interior syndrome. Thus, the wind pathogen in the exterior has resolved, while the water qi in the interior is disharmonious. Various disorders caused by water qi may present as wheezing, thirst, choking sensation, palpitations, irritability, diarrhea without vomiting, vomiting without diarrhea, or vomiting and diarrhea without sweating. In this case, water qi moves outward to the skin and hair causing sweating, moves upward to the throat causing vomiting/retching, and moves downward to the intestines and stomach causing diarrhea. The momentum is vast and uncontrollable; unless a potent diuretic agent is used to directly subdue it, the Middle Qi will not withstand it. Therefore, the Shizao Tang formula is vastly different from methods such as Wuling San (Five-Ingredient Poria Pill), Xiao Qinglong Tang (Minor Blue Dragon Decoction), and Xiexin Tang (Drain the Epigastrium Decoction).
Combined diseases of Taiyang and Yangming, and combined diseases of Taiyang and Shaoyang, both present with diarrhea and vomiting/retching; these all share the root cause of Taiyang wind-stroke.
Shizao Tang (Ten Jujube Decoction):
Yuanhua (Genkwa Flos, prepared until reddish) Gansui (Kansui Radix) Daji (Euphorbiae Pekinensis Radix) (equal parts)
The above three herbs are separately pounded and sifted, weighed, and then mixed. Take one sheng and half of water, boil ten large jujubes (Ziziphi Fructus), reduce to eight ge, remove the jujubes, and add the herbal powder. For strong individuals, administer one qianbi (a measure equivalent to a square inch spoonful); for frail individuals, half a qianbi. Take warm on an empty stomach in the morning. If the purgation is slight and the disease does not resolve, take again the next day, increasing the dose by half a qianbi. After obtaining rapid purgation, nourish oneself with millet porridge.