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Can herbs cause dampness?

By Archived User | Updated: Dec 31, 2021 | Published: Dec 31, 2021

Several months ago my chiropractor suggested using liver qi moving and blood stagnation moving herbs for my symptoms with clotty menstrual blood and emotions. After about 2 months of that, I started getting very loose stools especially in the morning, and extreme morning fatigue. I stopped those herbs. Then I became pregnant with what looked like a healthy pregnancy/baby but miscarried at 8-9 weeks. During the pregnancy I no longer had the loose stools. Now that I’m no longer pregnant the loose stools are back. I started seeing an acupuncturist who also said my digestion and tongue coating don’t seem well and said no drinking cold drinks or eating raw foods. I took that suggestion starting several weeks ago but still no improvement.

Could the herbs I was taking previously have caused this? Or may it just be a coincidence and something else caused it? Also how long should I probably expect to see results with my acupuncturist on this (who is also giving me new herbs to help this) ?

Archived Comments

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

The best person to ask is the acupuncturist that you are currently seeing as they are most familiar with your case and have had the benefit of physical diagnosis. But to answer your question generally, yes, improperly prescribed Chinese herbal medicine can cause any number of problems. More specifically, using moving herbs/formulas when there is deficiency that is not being accounted for can cause weakness and loose stools - among other problems.

You don’t really mention how often you are seeing your current practitioner or what they herbs are that they gave you, so I wouldn’t really be able to do anything other than speculate a time frame. Generally, I would imagine within 3-7 visits (so 1-3 months) your issues should be resolved.

Comment by Archived User

Thank you. I am seeing her weekly or every other week for acupuncture, and taking the herbal formula as a tea 3x per day which are formulas (not sure the names) she says she makes based on what she sees each week on my tongue and other symptoms.

Comment by Archived User

Generally speaking you should also avoid dairy and soy products as well as raw. Try not to eat meats or other high protein foods with a lot of carbs as that slows down digestion as well. Also try not to eat dessert on any kind of regular basis - a big dose of sugar after meals is also terrible for digestion.

Comment by Archived User

Yes, don’t eat much dairy at all, stopped ice cold drinks and salads, and never eat desserts… which is why it was so perplexing to me it developed and then hasn’t gotten better yet…

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