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Infantile diarrhea due to fright is caused by the Liver governing fright. The Liver belongs to Wood; when Liver Qi is excessive, it inevitably overacts upon the Spleen Earth. Once Spleen Earth is weakened, milk and food cannot be transformed, and the water passages do not open, resulting in diarrhea with green-colored stool, sometimes accompanied by convulsions. This is because green is the color of the Liver, and convulsions are a symptom of the Liver. There are also cases caused by the nursing mother having Spleen deficiency and being frightened, or anger stirring up Liver Fire. The Classics state: "Anger causes Qi to rebel; severely, it leads to vomiting blood and undigested diarrhea." The treatment principle should be to soothe the Liver and tonify the Spleen. One must strictly avoid using harsh purgative drugs. If Spleen Qi becomes increasingly deficient, Liver pathogenic factors will become more severe, even leading to convulsions and opisthotonos (body arching backward). This is also a variant syndrome of excessive Liver Fire and depletion of the Middle Jiao (Spleen and Stomach). Whenever signs of fright are seen, one should immediately use formulas such as Si Jun Zi Tang (Four Gentlemen Decoction), Liu Jun Zi Tang (Six Gentlemen Decoction), or Yi Gong San (Yi Gong Powder), adding Bai Fu Zi (Arisaematis Rhizoma Preparatum) to settle wind, and Chai Hu (Bupleuri Radix) to soothe the Liver and guide the medicine to the channel, thereby preventing the disease from progressing. In this way, diarrhea and convulsions can be avoided, and the infant will recover. Now that diarrhea, vomiting, and fright convulsions have already appeared, if one does not know to treat by tonifying the Spleen and soothing the Liver, but instead uses medicines like Bao Ming Dan (Life-Preserving Pill), Bao Long Wan (Embracing Dragon Pill), or Zhen Jing Wan (Fright-Calming Pill), the patient will be far from recovery.

Clinical Cases:
1. An infant suffered from prolonged diarrhea due to fright, with a cyan-yellow complexion. I diagnosed it as Liver Wood overacting on Spleen Earth. I prescribed Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang (Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Decoction) in the morning and Wu Wei Yi Gong San (Five-Ingredient Yi Gong Powder) with Mu Xiang (Aucklandiae Radix) in the evening. Both mother and child took the medicine, and they recovered.

2. An infant had diarrhea with fright convulsions. The mother had a cyan complexion and a wiry pulse. I first used Xiao Chai Hu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction) with Mu Xiang and Lou Lu (Euphorbiae Humifusae Herba) for one dose. Then, I used Si Jun Zi Tang with Mu Xiang, Gou Teng Hook (Uncariae Ramulus cum Uncis), and Shan Zhi (Gardeniae Fructus). Mother and child both took the medicine, and they recovered.

3. An infant suffered from diarrhea because his mother was frightened. Medication damaged his Stomach Qi, causing him to vomit milk. I treated the mother with Wu Wei Yi Gong San, fried Huang Lian (Coptidis Rhizoma), and Mu Xiang. I gave the infant small doses (one or two spoonfuls at a time) concurrently, and both recovered. Later, the mother suffered from food stagnation due to depression and anger, presenting with dysentery, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Her infant was lethargic and refused food. I used Liu Jun Zi Tang with Che Qian Zi (Plantaginis Semen), Huang Lian, and Mu Xiang. Mother and child both took the medicine and became stable.

4. An infant had prolonged diarrhea with green stool, borborygmus (bowel sounds), and cold extremities. I said, "This is diarrhea due to fright. Since Spleen Earth is depleted, Liver Wood comes to insult it. It is necessary to warm the Spleen and soothe the Liver before recovery is possible." The father considered my advice pedantic and self-medicated with drugs for treating fright palpitations. This resulted in abdominal distension with a heavy sensation, difficulty urinating, and edema of the four limbs. Only then did he believe my previous words and requested treatment again. I first used Wu Wei Yi Gong San with Sheng Ma (Cimicifugae Rhizoma) and Chai Hu for several doses, after which symptoms improved slightly. Then, I used Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang for several doses, and dietary intake gradually increased. Subsequently, due to food stagnation complicated by fright, he mistakenly used dispersing and draining agents, leading to cold hands and feet and convulsions during sleep. I reasoned that this was due to weak Spleen Earth, where Lung Metal was affected, severely damaging true Qi. I used Yi Gong San with Zi Su (Perillae Folium) for one dose to disperse exterior pathogens; then, I used Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang with Fu Ling (Poria) and Ban Xia (Pinelliae Rhizoma) to regulate and tonify true Qi, leading to recovery.

5. An infant had vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal distension due to fright. I first treated him with Liu Jun Zi Tang, Mu Xiang, and Chai Hu, which provided slight relief; then he recovered with Wu Wei Yi Gong San. Later, due to fright convulsions and excessive phlegm, someone used drugs to calm fright and resolve phlegm, leading to fatigue, anorexia, and worsened diarrhea. I first used Yi Gong San with Mu Xiang and Gou Teng Hook for four doses, and he recovered.

Si Shen Wan (Four Miraculous Pills): Treats Spleen deficiency and Stomach weakness, loose stools, lack of appetite, or dysentery with abdominal pain.
Ingredients: Rou Dou Kou (Myristicae Semen, 2 liang), Bu Gu Zhi (Psoraleae Fructus, 4 liang), Wu Wei Zi (Schisandrae Fructus, 2 liang), Wu Zhu Yu (Evodiae Fructus, 2 liang).
Preparation: Grind the above ingredients into fine powder. Use 65 red dates and 6 liang of fresh ginger. Add 2 zhong of water and boil until dry. Take the date pulp and mix it with the powder to form pills the size of paulownia seeds. Take 50–60 pills per dose, swallowed with plain boiled water or dissolved in water.

Er Shen Wan (Two Spirit Pills):
Ingredients: Bu Gu Zhi (Psoraleae Fructus, 4 liang), Rou Dou Kou (Myristicae Semen, raw, 2 liang).
Preparation: Grind into powder. Use 49 red dates and 4 liang of fresh ginger. Add 1 zhong of water and boil until dry. Take the date pulp and mix with the powder to form pills the size of paulownia seeds. Take 20–30 pills per dose, swallowed with boiling water.

Zhu Jun San (Master Zhu's Powder): Treats symptoms appearing after vomiting and diarrhea, including green stool. Suitable for this condition. It consists of Si Jun Zi Tang (Four Gentlemen Decoction) added with Chen Sha (Cinnabaris), She Xiang (Moschus), Deng Xin Cao (Junci Medulla), and Gou Teng Hook (Uncariae Ramulus cum Uncis), ground into powder. Take 1 qian per dose, mixed with plain boiled water. (Formula see entry "Nei Diao")

Tai Yi Dan (Great Unity Pill): Regular use calms the spirit, settles fright, and stops night crying.
Ingredients: Jie Geng (Platycodonis Radix, stir-fried, 1 liang), Huo Xiang Ye (Agastaches Folium), Bai Bian Dou (Dolichoris Semen, stir-fried, each 0.5 liang), Bai Zhi (Angelicae Dahuricae Radix), Chuan Xiong (Ligustici Chuanxiong Rhizoma, each 2 qian).
Preparation: Grind into powder. Form pills with honey, size of Euryales Semen (Qian Shi). Coat with Chen Sha (Cinnabaris). Take one pill per dose, ground down with Bo He Tang (Mint Decoction). For green stool, take with Red Date Decoction. For night crying, take with Deng Xin Cao and Gou Teng Hook Decoction; adding Bai Zhu (Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma), Fu Ling (Poria), and Bai Shao Yao (Paeoniae Radix Alba) is especially effective.

Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang (Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Decoction) (See entry "Xu Lei")
Liu Jun Zi Tang (Six Gentlemen Decoction)
Wu Wei Yi Gong San (Five-Ingredient Yi Gong Powder) (Both formulas see entry "Nei Diao")
Xiao Chai Hu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction)
Zhi Sheng Bao Ming Dan (Supreme Life-Preserving Pill) (Both formulas see entry "Jing Zheng")
Ba Wei Wan (Eight-Ingredient Pill) (Namely Liu Wei Wan [Six-Ingredient Pill] added with Wu Wei Zi [Schisandrae Fructus] and Rou Gui [Cinnamomi Cortex], see entry "Shen Zang")