Mystery reaction to Moxibustion

Without knowing the points used, how much moxibustion, your true diagnosis (i.e. not their opinion and your translation of what they think) - it is difficult to say. The best answers would generally come from consulting with another acupuncturist who would have the benefit of physically inspecting you and asking you levels of questions that are not really possible online. That said, if the moxibustion didn’t just draw something out of you that was maybe going to happen anyway (which is possible), it is likely that is was too heating and drying for you and it created more systemic problems. That said, while it is timed with the moxibustion and that may very well have been a part, I also question how much acupuncture you needed for the issues you are describing (in my opinion, way too much and way too often). I would suspect that the entire diagnosis was off, that the treatments were probably helping but not getting at the root very well and the moxibustion just simply tipped the effects of a wrong or incomplete diagnosis over the edge.

Technically moxa is moving and mildly warming in most applications, in decades of practice I’ve never seen or even heard of what you are describing. However, if you had someone who is deeply yin deficient in TCM terms, or even with tremendous heat in the blood or blood dryness you could make someone much worse with moxibustion (particularly depending on the amount and points used) - but, as I already stated, you can very consistently make them worse with improper acupuncture point selection as well.

This is not a critique of the acupuncturist in any way, just saying that from my experience conditions of this nature can be tricky to ascertain the deeper causal diagnosis, because the excessive bleeding creates other systemic problems which can confuse the deeper causes.

Generally speaking treating yin deficiency is less about adding fluids and more about removing heat/yang. In fact adding fluids (i.e. cooling foods) is almost always going to be counter productive - it is yin -deficiency-, not fluid deficiency. This means that it is ultimately coming from a weakness that needs to be careful strengthened. The base formula in most cases is lui we di huang wan and it can be a slow issue to resolve.

Food wise you avoid sugar, stimulants, caffeine, fried foods and focus on more cooked vegetables and in many cases restricted many grains (i.e. too many carbs - which become sugar essentially).

Sorry for resurrecting this post but thought i’d add to it since my situation hasn’t changed much. I went to see a chinese herbalist in hopes that she could rectify my horrible imbalances. Was taking herbs for a couple of weeks and while it helped my overall vitality, it did cause me to bleed more during my period. Blood became more watery and exited faster when normally it drips in a more timely manner. I had to stop treatment. Since stopping, My periods start with a brown discharge that appears 7 days before my 7 day long heavy period. Though current period is no longer a watery consistency thankfully. Instinctively I feel that the treatment was pushing my body to heal faster than it wanted to. Im currently still dealing with some random mild hot flashes that was first induced by the intake of high birth control pills from a year ago, and the subsequent dryness from moxibustion that followed. Im no longer a burning furnace but I still get too warm for comfort.

Recently I caught a cold and like my previous colds in the last year, my lungs would fill up with fluids(phlegm) very easily. With colds lasting almost a month. Does this indicate liver fire moving towards lungs?? Also I am chronically dehydrated and no amount of water I drink is helping.

I’m not sure if I want to return to the herbalist. I may want to give the Lui We Di Huang Wan pills you suggested above a try. Havent heard your opinion on Zhi Bai Di Huang Pian and would love to read it if you are familiar with it. Thanks in advance.