Gu and Yin Fire

You have no appetite because your stomach is yang deficient. If the spleen yang goes kaput, typically the stomach follows suit–if at least not soon thereafter.

If I were you, I would make my own digestion pills with something maybe like this:

Huang Qi - 30g
Dang Shen - 30g
Bai Zhu (Chao) - 30g
Cang Zhu (Mi Chao) - 30g
Mai Ya (Chao) - 30g
Gu Ya (Chao) - 30g
Hou Po - 10 g
Mu Xiang - 10g

…and then periodically make a decoction to nourish liver blood (which will gradually happen anyway, since if you boost the spleen then nutrient absorption is increased and the liver benefits from that secondarily. I would make maybe a 2-day batch each time with six (6) one-cup doses. However, this decoction would address the liver and blood directly rather):

Gui Ban (Chao)* - 30 g
He Shou Wu - 30 g
Du Zhong (Yan) - 30 g
Nv Zhen Zi** - 30 g
Dang Gui - 18 g
Bai Shao - 18 g
Hong Hua - 12 g
Xiang Fu - 12 g

• = you need to completely crush this into as fine of bits as possible
  ** = run this through a food processor/grinder quick before throwing it into the mix; this ingredient is very poorly water-soluble, so whenever I include it in decoctions I also add a teaspoon or two of unrefined coconut oil–it floats on the top, which is also where the seeds float to when cooking anyway

Personally, I cook decoctions by soaking the roots/tonics for at least 10 minutes. Put them into an earthenware pot (because He Shou Wu reacts with metal–especially aluminum) with 12 cups of water and get it to a slow meandering boil. Cook until 1/2 the water level or one hour–whichever comes first. In the meantime, soak the other things (which in this case is Hong Hua and Xiang Fu) for 10 minutes and add to the decoction along with 6 cups of water. Again, wait until the new water level reaches half of what it was. Turn off the heat, strain, and put into mason jars for storage. Dosage is 1 cup each time, warm. If you have to warm up doses, use a small saucepan (NEVER a microwave because it ruptures the nutrients in the liquid). Decoction lasts for up to 3 days. Anything beyond that won’t do much. The fresher, the better.

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