jpark: January 17, 2022, 9:12pm
Is there a reliable way to think of these clinically?
I am having a hard time parsing out whether this is internal dampness or dryness.
“Gallbladder attacks” are triggered by greasy, oily foods, and so because damp food makes them worse I am
inclined to think of this as internal damp. (So consider supplementing Yangming, LI or ST)
But on the other hand, as stones, they are hard and dry. Which makes me wonder if instead if they are actually an
accumulation of internal dryness? (So consider supplementing Taiyin, SP or LU).
Or are they just simply a Gallbladder Excess – so supplement Pericardium?
If there is right sided rib pain / congestion associated with them, would this point toward supplementing Lung?
I have a case right now where this is part of the overall symptom picture, and I will post a full write up in the cases
forum but I am curious if there is a consistent way to interpret them in the Saam system.
George_Mandler: January 17, 2022, 10:31pm
If someone came to me for gallstones I would diagnosis like they didn’t have gallstones. I first take in the person,
how they present, morphology etc to see where the biggest delta in each pair. Then I think how does something like
gallstones fit in for them. It could be anything you mentioned, but I would not take gallstones on their own and go
in a certain direction.
It could be too much consolidation where they have KD excess so we need some dynamic movement with SI+. So
if I saw other KD excess signs (varicosities, oketsu) I might consider SI+ supplementation.
It could be digestion and more typically in the LU excess or SP excess realm. If they had a Taiyin damp
morphology I might consider one (ST+, LI+) of those depending upon other characteristics.
It could be a GB excess or even PC excess. If they came in with a loud booming voice and seemed to have a lot of
anger I’d consider PC+
It could be LR excess and the blood too rich so if their eyes were dull and they seemed to be withdrawn maybe a
SJ+.
So the short answer to all that is there is no gem that this symptoms means this treatment. Take it all in.
jpark: January 19, 2022, 7:19pm
Thanks for this @George_Mandler. The gallstones aren’t the chief complaint, but seem significant to the overall
dynamic.
I’ll put up the whole case in the case studies forum shortly and would love to get your feedback on it.