Question Regarding JG 18

[Clint Cain]

JG 18 question: “Intestinal abscess manifests with swelling and glomus… with a slow and tight pulse, pus has not yet formed, and purgation can be applied… with a surging and rapid pulse, pus has formed, and purgation is prohibited. DHMDPT is indicated.”Is this implying that DHMDPT is NOT a purgative (DH-MX), since it’s prohibited per its own pulses??What am I missing here? If pus has formed — flooding slippery pulses — then we should not purge, for we may further damage the yang that is being lost from the xue.

[Christoph Ludwig Beer]

Try to see it from this perspective: A true purgative doesn’t purge the blood. It opens a hollow organ and increases pressure downward. If your intestine were to carry a pus forming lesion, what would purging do to that lesion?

[Clint Cain]

That makes sense. So, is this formula not really a purgative — one that not only flushes the fu with water, but also increases downward pressure — because there is no HP? TWCQT, which DHMDPT is a modification of, also does not have HP and, per it’s lines, isn’t really about purging the bowels as much as it is about cooling and moistening metal.

[Arnaud Versluys]

It’s a heat flushing formula, not a purgative.

[billschoenbart]

Arnaud, in addition to DHMDPT having more ingredients than TWCQT, does the cooking time affect the action, since the purgative effect of da huang is reduced by the amount of cooking time? For DHMDPT, the cooking time is around double that for TWCQT, which would reduce the purgative effect but retain the heat clearing effect.

[Arnaud Versluys]

I think that’s correct, yes.

[Christoph Ludwig Beer]

If you know what you’re flushing, the longer cooking time makes sense as well.

[Author]

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