We can put together 5 uses of 五苓散…
ONE: 小便不利
Usually after over-perspiring, the person is dehydrated and thirsty. On top of that, he has a floating pulse and inhibited urination.
“…若脉浮，小便不利，微热消渴者，五苓散主之。”
“发汗已，脉浮数，烦渴者，五苓散主之。”
TWO: 水肿
More focused on using the diuretic properties of the herbs inside.
THREE: 眩晕
See here on how 五苓散 can help when an illness makes a person skinny, 脐下有悸 […]
The verse:
“趺阳脉浮而涩，浮则胃气强，涩则小便数，浮涩相搏，大便则硬，其脾为约，麻子仁丸主之。” (line 247)
Here we get a glimpse of the unfettered logic of Zhang Ji and perhaps all his predecessors and post-decessors. He says that the fuyang pulse is floating and rough (literally: astringent). And then he explains why: floating means that the stomach qi is strong (from this we know that during exterior illnesses, […]
The verses:
“发汗后，水药不得入口为逆，
若更发汗，必吐下不止。
发汗吐下后，虚烦不得眠
若剧者，必反复颠倒，心中懊憹，
栀子豉汤主之；” (line 76a)
“若少气者，栀子甘草豉汤主之；
若呕者，栀子生姜豉汤主之。” (line 76b)
“发汗若下之，而烦热胸中窒者，栀子豉汤主之。” (line 77)
“伤寒五六日，大下之后，身热不去，心中结痛者，未欲解也，栀子豉汤主之。” (line 78)
The Big Picture:
In a taiyang disease (think of it as some kind of exogenous pathogen causing an immune reaction), perspiration is usually used. However, for some reason or other, the person is unable to take in medicine (a stomach reaction) and vomits it out. We […]
An re-introduction:
“五六日自利而渴者，属少阴也， 虚故引水自救，” (line 282b)
If you remember, diarrhea (下利/自利) can be classified as 太阴下利 or 少阴下利.
We know it COULD BE 少阴下利 if thirst is present.
We can further subdivide thirst-present diarrhea into cold-diarrhea (寒利) or hot-diarrhea (热利) by looking at the urine. It is already known that with cold-diarrhea, the urine is clear and prolonged.
What about […]
Things you don’t wanna do:
Don’t make him sweat.
“少阴病，脉细沉数，病位在里，不可发汗。” (line 285)
Meaning that the illness is within and perspiration is not the correct treatment.
Don’t make him vomit.
“少阴病，脉微，不可发汗，亡阳故也；阳已虚，尺脉弱涩者，复不可下之。” (line 286)
An explanation that if you induce perspiration, the patient will lose his yang-energy to the extent that it’s all gone (亡阳).
The second part of this line says that since […]
