Afternoon clinic, a lady in her early fifties took a seat, her brow furrowed: "For the past six months, I've had trouble falling asleep at night. My mind races, dreams follow one after another, and I wake up between 3 and 4 AM, drenched in sweat. I've had my blood tested, and all the indicators are normal. My family says I'm 'deficient,' and they advise me to take Eajiao (donkey-hide gelatin) and stew chicken soup. But the more I supplement, the drier I get, with blisters forming in my mouth and night sweats becoming worse." Her eyes were filled with confusion – why, if I'm being treated for deficiency, am I making things worse by adding fuel to the fire?
This scenario is not uncommon in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinics. When patients suffer from insomnia, excessive dreams, and night sweats, many people's first reaction is to attribute it to "deficiency." However, clinical differentiation in TCM is far from simply "supplementing when there is deficiency."