Ephedra, Apricot Kernel, Coix, and Licorice Decoction

金匱要略

-- The patient has generalized pain throughout the body and fever, which becomes severe in the late afternoon; this is called wind-dampness. This disease is caused by being exposed to wind when sweating, or by prolonged exposure to cold. It can be treated with Ma Huang Xing Ren Yi Yi Gan Cao Tang. (Jin Gui Yao Lue (Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet))

Ephedra (remove nodes) half a liang (soaked in hot water), Licorice one liang (honey-fried), Coix seed half a liang, Apricot kernel ten pieces (remove skin and tip, stir-fried). Chop the above into pieces the size of hemp beans. For each dose, take four qian-bi; add one and a half cups of water, boil down to eight fen, remove the dregs, and take warm. There will be slight sweating; avoid wind. (Jin Gui Yao Lue (Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet))

Decoct nine bowls of water down to three bowls. Take one bowl warm after each of the three meals. There will be slight sweating; avoid wind.

湯劑

Release the exterior by inducing sweat, dispel wind and remove dampness.

Wind-dampness exterior pattern. Generalized pain throughout the body, joint pain, in severe cases inability to flex and extend, fever that becomes severe in the late afternoon, white greasy tongue coating, and a floating or stringy, thin, soggy pulse.

Cold hands and feet, deep and thin pulse: combine with Dang Gui Si Ni Tang. -- Corns: combine with Qiang Huo Sheng Shi Tang.

1. If Ma Huang is used at 15g or more, it must be decocted for a long time, at least two hours. 2. For prescriptions containing Ma Huang, do not take the medicine after 8 p.m.; otherwise it may easily cause insomnia. If insomnia still occurs when doing this, change to taking it after breakfast and lunch. 3. Those who are thin and weak, those who are frail and frequently ill, and those who are thin, pale, and sweat easily should all use it with caution.