Formulas that warm the interior
Si ni tang
Frigid Extremities Decoction
- Chinese name
- 四逆汤
- Group
- Formulas that warm the interior
- English name
- Aconite, Ginger and Licorice Combination
- Basic formula
- ✓
Warms from within and revives the yang.
Indications
For collapse of yang and shock: deep cold at the 'shao yin' level with cold limbs, chills and a tendency to lie curled up, listlessness, vomiting without thirst, abdominal pain that improves with warmth and pressure, and diarrhoea. Can arise after excessive sweating during a cold or from wrong treatment. Later also used for exhaustion and heart failure due to yang deficiency. Also a basic formula to stimulate the metabolism in aversion to cold, cold in stomach and spleen, vomiting, diarrhoea, listlessness, abdominal pain and no thirst.
Ingredients
| Ingredients | Amount |
|---|---|
| Prepared aconite (fu zi)toxic | no amount |
| Dried ginger (gan jiang) | 6–9 g |
| Honey-fried licorice (zhi gan cao) | 10–15 g |
- Tongue
- white, moist coating or dark bluish-purple
- Pulse
- deep, weak and thin
Variations
- For rheumatoid arthritis from cold: add cinnamon twig and white peony.
- For qi deficiency: add ginseng or dang shen.
- For oedema from yang deficiency: add fu ling and water plantain.
- With 6–9 g ginseng added, the formula tonifies yin, blood and qi more broadly; suitable for the shao yin and jue yin stages.
Note
If the patient vomits the warm decoction, it may be drunk cool.