Nausea in Pregnancy--Chinese Herbal Medicine

One of the bains of pregnancy is severe nausea, with or without vomiting, which can occur in the morning, or any time of day, even all day.

There are two Chinese herbal prescriptions I have had moderate to excellent success with. One is called Er Chen Tang/Citrus and Pinellia, and the other is Wen Dan Tang/Poria and Bamboo. I use them in powdered capsule, as well as chewable tablet forms.

These two herbal formulas aim at eliminating the pathological phlegm that, when lodged in the stomach, obstructs the downward flow of stomach Qi, leading to the classic symptoms of "rebellious stomach Qi"--nausea and vomiting.

Wen Dan Tang has the advantage of also clearing pathological heat, so it is used for hot type phlegm and Er Chen Tang is for cold type.

Cold Type: These women will be more likely to be pale, to have poor appetite, cold limbs, and even diarrhea. They will also be more prone to vomiting clear fluid. They will also have a paler tongue with a moist white coat...

Hot Type: ...as opposed to the yellow coating and red dots that you should see on the Wen DanTang case. The Wen Dan Tang case will be more likely to have hiccups, a bitter taste, irritability, insomnia, a feeling as if something were stuck in the base of the esophagus, and if there is vomiting it should be more bitter or sour.


Dried Ginger
Some women can also benefit from the use of dried Ginger root tea. However, it will only work help if taken in a large enough dose, according to herbalist-midwife Susan Weed.

According to Susan, you need to try as much as 1 tablespoon at a time in hot water, sweeten if needed. If you use Ginger capsules, you need also to use as many as 25 per day. And check your capsules that they are good quality; they should smell like ginger.

I would add that in Chinese Medicine dried Ginger root/Gan Jiang is a spicy hot herb that strongly warms the interior. So it is most likely to help those women with a cold condition, as above.


Nutritionals and Kitchen Medicine
Other things worth trying are Vitamin B6 10-mg a day, and also Vitamin B-12

Some women like peppermint or spearmint tea; but you must take it away from meals, or it can cause epigastric burning.

Oolong, or Jasmine Green tea, are good to sip with meals and snacks, since they prevent damp accumulation in the stomach.

Frequent dry snacks like crackers can be very helpful.

A popular homeopathic remedy safe to try is Nux Vomica 6x.

A leisurely brief stroll immediately after eating, and walking anytime you feel nauseated can be helpful.

Comments

excellent post on natural Chinese remedies! thank you for sharing the information.
eyton shalom said…
you are very welcome! thanks for thanking!