Tonic Medicine — Can You Take It Any Time?

Tonic Medicine — Can You Take It Any Time?

"Would a course of tonic medicine help?"

People come with this every change of season. And I usually ask back: "What does 'no energy' mean for you?"

They arrive with the same words while different things are happening inside.

Inside the words "no energy" there are different bodies

One is empty. There isn't enough to spend. Poor eating, a long illness, or spending big and never refilling. Fill this body and it lifts.

One is blocked. The materials are there and the flow doesn't get them where they're needed. Things sit; there's bloating; the body is heavy. Fill this body and it gets heavier.

Both people say "no energy." And the same medicine lifts one of them and leaves the other feeling stuffed. In practice the two are more often mixed together in one body. So rather than picking which of the two it is, I look at which side is the more pressing right now.

"The tonic gave me indigestion" comes from here

You hear this now and then. And you conclude that herbal medicine doesn't suit you.

The medicine wasn't bad. The order was reversed. It filled a blocked body first.

Bring more goods into a house whose road is blocked and what happens? The goods weren't the problem — the road needed clearing first.

So with these patients I clear first, then fill. Keep the order and the same medicine goes differently.

And whether it's a body ready to be filled

One more.

Put something good into a body that can't receive it and it becomes a burden. Like laying a feast for someone who has gone hungry a long time.

If digestion has broken down, no quality of material becomes material. So I often look at the receiving side before the eating side. (If you find it especially hard to get up in the morning)

Good times to come

• When rest-proof fatigue has run for months
• When you go down at the same spot every change of season
• When recovery is slow after childbirth or surgery
• When something big is coming and you want the body ready in advance

In terms of timing, before the collapse beats after it. Filling while something is left is faster than filling once it is all spent.

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Tonic medicine isn't for any time. It gives strength when it fits this body now.

So a question comes before "a course of tonic." Are you empty, or are you blocked?

If you are considering Gongjin-Dan, you may also read Should You Take Gongjin-Dan Just Because You Feel Tired?, which starts by separating when fatigue began and how long it has lasted.

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References

• The single word 'fatigue' covers different states, and a validated questionnaire study separated them — Chinese Medicine, 2016
• When the stomach is not doing its job, even a small meal leaves a burden — Asan Medical Center

Written by Dr. Heo Ji-young (PhD in Korean Medicine Pathology, Kyung Hee University · former Research Professor of Herbology, Kyung Hee University)