Liriope Decoction

Pattern-based

• Lung and Stomach Yin deficiency with dry throat
• Spasmodic dry cough worse in the evening
• Qi rebelling upward with a feeling of throat obstruction

Biomedical correlates

• Chronic dry cough and throat clearing
• Post-infectious cough
• Dry cough in the elderly

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治火喘. 麥門冬 三錢, 半夏 二錢, 人參 一錢, 甘草 五分, 粳米 一合, 大棗 三枚. 右剉, 作一貼, 水煎服, 日二. 《仲景》 ○肺脹滿, 膨膨而喘咳者, 多用五味子而人參次之, 麥門冬又次之, 黃連少許. 甚則交兩手而瞀者, 眞氣大虛也. 若氣短, 加黃芪ㆍ五味子ㆍ人參; 若氣盛, 去五味子ㆍ人參, 加黃芩ㆍ荊芥穗. 《東垣》 ○一婦素有痰嗽, 忽一日大喘, 痰出如泉, 身汗如油, 脉浮而洪, 似將命絶. 速用麥門冬 四錢ㆍ人參 二錢ㆍ五味子 一錢半, 煎服一貼, 喘定汗止; 三貼痰漸少, 再加瓜蔞仁 一錢半ㆍ白朮ㆍ當歸ㆍ芍藥ㆍ黃芩 各一錢, 服二十餘貼而安. 此門冬ㆍ五味ㆍ人參之功也. 《本事》

Translation

Treats fire panting. Ophiopogon, 3 don; pinellia, 2 don; ginseng, 1 don; licorice, 5 fun; rice, 1 hop; jujube, three fruits. Cut up, make one packet, decoct in water and take twice a day. ○ Where the lung is distended and full, swollen out with panting and cough, schisandra is used most, ginseng next, ophiopogon next after that, and a little coptis. Where it is severe and the patient crosses both hands over himself and is dim-sighted, the true qi is greatly vacuous. If the breath is short, add astragalus, schisandra and ginseng; if the qi is abundant, leave out the schisandra and ginseng and add scutellaria and schizonepeta spike. ○ A woman had long had a phlegm cough when one day she fell into a great panting, the phlegm pouring out like a spring, the body sweating like oil, the pulse floating and surging, as though her life were about to be cut off. Ophiopogon, 4 don, ginseng, 2 don, and schisandra, 1 don 5 fun, were given at once; one packet decocted settled the panting and stopped the sweat, three packets lessened the phlegm by degrees, and then trichosanthes seed, 1 don 5 fun, with white atractylodes, Chinese angelica, peony and scutellaria, 1 don each, were added; after twenty-odd packets she was well. This is the power of ophiopogon, schisandra and ginseng. — Junggyeong 仲景 · Dongwon 東垣 · Bonsa 本事 (Donguibogam · Haesu)