Formulas · Warm the Interior 溫裏 · Immun (入門)

Angelica Frigid Extremities Decoction

Danggwisayeok-tang

한글 당귀사역탕 · Pinyin Dang Gui Si Ni Tang

當歸四逆湯

Composition 構成

Danggwi Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

8 g
Chief 君
Baekjagyak Bai Shao
白芍藥 백작약 · White Peony

8 g
Chief 君
Gyeji Gui Zhi
桂枝 계지 · Cinnamon Twig

6 g
Deputy 臣
Sesin Xi Xin
細辛 세신 · Asarum

4 g
Deputy 臣
Tongcho Tong Cao
通草 통초 · Tetrapanax Pith

4 g
Assistant 佐
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

4 g
Envoy 使
Daejo Da Zao
大棗 대조 · Jujube

—
Envoy 使

two dates

Total 34 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 1 ingredient measured by count or used as a vehicle, shown as —.

Received this formula from your practitioner? Amounts shown here are classical reference values — granule and prepared products differ. Always follow your prescribed dosage and directions.

Actions 效能

Warms the channels and nourishes the blood
Restores a pulse on the point of failing

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Jueyin pattern with reversal cold of the hands and feet and a faint pulse about to be cut off
Blood depletion with cold congealing the channels

Biomedical correlates

Raynaud phenomenon
Peripheral vascular insufficiency with anaemia

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治厥陰證, 手足厥冷ㆍ脉微欲絶. 當歸ㆍ白芍藥各二錢, 桂枝一錢半, 細辛ㆍ通草ㆍ甘草各一錢. 右剉, 作一貼, 入棗二枚, 水煎服. 《入門》

Translation

Treats the jueyin pattern with reversal cold of the hands and feet and a faint pulse on the point of being cut off. Tangkuei and white peony, 2 don each; cinnamon twig, 1 don 5 fun; asarum, tetrapanax pith and licorice, 1 don each. Cut up, make one packet, add two jujubes and decoct in water. — Immun 入門 (Donguibogam · Han, upper)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The same cold hands and feet as the two formulas above, from a third cause: not yang collapse and not yang constrained, but blood too thin to reach the ends of the limbs. So tangkuei and peony lead, and the warming is done by cinnamon twig and asarum rather than aconite — they open the channels instead of forcing heat from the centre. Tetrapanax pith is the quiet one that makes it work, a free-flowing drug that clears the path the blood is to travel. Reading the three Frigid Extremities formulas side by side is the best lesson in differential prescribing the chapter offers. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.