From Critical Condition To A Clear CT Scan: Integrative Medicine vs. COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
By Dr. Jin Zhao, PhD.
Dr. Jin Zhao is a professor at Chengdu University of TCM. He is the 5th generation of Chinese medicine doctor in the family. He has been seeing COVID-19 patients from Wuhan with telemedicine and has helped over 100 patients. We’ll keep posting coronavirus cases successfully treated by Dr. Jin Zhao.
Male, 31 years old, lives in Wuhan. Had contact with COVID-19 patients. He first had symptoms on Jan. 21st, 2020 and was diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease on Jan 31st, 2020.
1st consultation: Feb. 4th, 2020
Main complaints: dry mouth with bitter taste; desire for warm water; aversion to cold; dry cough with white phlegm; sore throat; headache; difficult breathing; weak body; drowsiness, runny nose, sneezing, chest tightness, muscle aches, poor sleep, itchy throat. He first thought he had a cold. Coughing for four days. Appetite is good, bowel movements twice yesterday and normal. Urine is slightly yellow
Current treatments: Took New CONTAC and Amcillin four days ago, and have not taken any medicine for the past three days.
Tongue pics:
Treatment plan:
1. Chinese medicine prescription: Xing Ren 10g, Bai dou kou 10g, yi yi ren 15g, fa ban xia 10g, hou po 10g, shen qu 5g, huo xiang 15g, bing lang 3g, dan dou shi 10g, su ye 10g, cang zhu 15g, lai fu zi 5g, ban lan gen 5g, yin chen 5g, huang qin 3g
3 bags
2. Chinese patent medicine prescription: None
3. Decoction: Add water to the cover the herbs and soak for 30--40 minutes. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 mins. Strain 200 ml of the medicinal juice and set aside. Add water to for a second decoction. After the water is boiling, simmer for 30 minutes to filter out the juice. A total of about 600ml of the juice obtained from the two decoctions, which is a daily dose. Drink frequently throughout the day with small amount each time.
4. Diet Therapy
1) The diet should be light. Drink more porridge, eat stewed vegetables, meat can be eaten a bit more, less oil and salt, not spicy pepper. Avoid pickled, braised and cured meat foods;
2) Avoid tobacco and alcohol.
3) Avoid cold, greasy food. Do not eat foods that are not digestible, such as stewed pork feet, fish stew, and glutinous rice.
4) Fruits should not be eaten, especially fruits with cold and cool nature. If you want to eat them, you must eat them with hot water and eat less.
5) Avoid foods and drinks that are too sweet and sour. The sweetness generates damp, and the sour flavored foods may contribute to water retention.
2nd Consultation: Feb. 7th, 2020
Western medications: none
Complaints: Cough, dry cough, little phlegm, cough while moving, phlegm is clear with blood, dizziness, chest tightness, yellow urine, loose stools, poor sleep, waking up every two hours at night, back pain, sleepiness and fatigue, the results of CT today showed it’s worsened. The western medicine doctor gave a Critically ill notice. Difficulty breathing, and was currently wearing an oxygen mask. No oral medicine. Injections of glucose every day, oxygen 93. Fever for 7 days.
Tongue:
Herbal prescription: Ren shen 5g, chen pi 10g, ban xia 10g, fu ling 15g, guang huo xiang 15g, su ye 10g, cao guo 3g, bing lang 5g, hou po 10g, bai dou kou 10g, xing ren 10g, ban lan gen 5g, cang zhu 15g, shi chang pu 5g, dong guar en 20g, wei jing 20g
3rd consultation: Feb. 9th, 2020
Current treatments:
Took one bag of previous herbal formula; Lopinavir
CT improvement: not obvious
Current complaints: no fever; heart beat 86. Currently admitted in the in-patient department on Ventilator. Cough: Less phlegm, coughing from lying down to sitting up or removing the oxygen, and cough is better while inhaling oxygen. Phlegm is clear, with blood clots, accompanied by dizziness, chest tightness, dyspnea, dry and bitter mouth, very yellow urine, dark brown loose stools, diarrhea, 4-5 times a day. Sleep has improved. Waking up at night at 2-3 am. No more body pains. Slightly drowsy; even sleepy during the day
Dizziness near the temple two hours ago, night sweats.
Herbal prescription: fa ban xia 10g, fu ling 15g, guang huo xiang 15g, su ye 10g, cao guo 3g, bing lang 5g, hou po 10g, bai dou kou 12g, xing ren 10g, lian qiao 5g, wei jing 20g, dong guar en 30g, cao zhu 15g, bai mao gen 10g, gao ben 5g, pao jiao 5g
4th consultation: Feb. 10th, 2020
Current medication: took one bag of previous herbal formula.
Other medications: he took hormones and gamma globulin during the inflammatory cytokine storm, and stopped for two days. Today, it seems that moxifloxacin has stopped. On lopinaviritonavir.
Improvement after the last prescription: the improvement is not very obvious at present
Current physical condition: At present, no fever. the body temperature is about 36.2, and the heart rate is about 85. Currently in hospital, can’t live without an oxygen mask, the blood oxygen drops down as soon as the oxygen mask is removed. Cough: Little phlegm. Dizziness, chest tightness, difficulty breathing, dry mouth, yellow urine, dark brown loose stools, and relief of diarrhea from yesterday. Yesterday's sleep improved. He went to bed at 8:30 in the evening, and went to the toilet at 4:30 the next morning. He had no pain. Slightly sleepy and tired, want to sleep during the day. At present dizziness is not around the temples any more; it is the feeling of not having enough sleep.
Tongue photos were taken one hour after taking the herbs.
Herbal prescription: Xìngrén 10 dòukòu 10 dōngguā rén 20 lú gēn 15 fǎ xià 10 huò xiāng 15 hòu pǔ 10 fúlíng 15 xièbái 10 cǎo guǒ 5 bīnláng 5 shí chāngpú 5 yīn chén 10 qiānghuó 5 bǎnlángēn 5 zé qī 10 2 fù, měi rì fǎnkuì
Feb. 11th, 2020
Medication feedback: no fever, heart rate is 86, standing heart rate is 110. Currently hospitalized with an oxygen mask.
Cough is better. A little yellow phlegm, accompanied by dizziness, chest tightness, dyspnea, dry mouth, yellow urine, dark brown loose stools, and diarrhea have improved. Recently, sleep has improved, and the number of times waking during the night has decreased. At 4 am, his body is slightly sore. Slight drowsiness, tired and wants to sleep during the day.
Western medicine: same as before. No more oral western medications.
Dr. Jin replied: Use as few western medicine injections as possible. It does not matter even if the CT has progressed.
Take the herbal decoction frequently taking small amounts each time.
5th consultation: Feb. 12, 2020
Medication situation: took 5/6 of the 2 bags of the previous herbal prescription.
Pharmaceutical medicines: previously taking lopinavir (ritonavir) tablets, then stopped
Current physical condition: currently no fever, heart rate 85, about 100 after standing up. currently in the hospital, with respiratory mask. Rarely coughing: Little sputum. The symptoms of dizziness and chest tightness are alleviated, the symptoms of difficult breathing are relieved; dry mouth, yellow urine, black and brown loose stools, 3-4 times a day. Recently, sleep has improved and drowsiness and fatigue have subsided.
Herbal prescription: Xìngrén 10 dòukòu 10 dōngguā rén 20 lú gēn 15 fǎ xià 10 cāngzhú 15 hǔzhàng 5 huò xiāng 15 hòu pǔ 10 cǎo guǒ 5 bīnláng 5 shí chāngpú 5 qiānghuó 5 bǎnlángēn 5 xièbái 10 shēngjiāng 5 l
2 bags
6th consultation: Feb 14th, 2020
Medication situation: took 5/6 of the 2 bags of the previous herbal prescription.
Other medicine situation: previously taking lopinavir tablets which has been stopped for 4 days
Current physical condition: Currently no fever, heart rate around 85, currently in hospital with oxygen mask, Little cough, no phlegm. The symptoms of dizziness and chest tightness are alleviated, the urine is yellowish, the stool is dark brown, loose, but no diarrhea, 2-3 times a day. Recently, the sleep has improved and the spirit has improved.
Note: The heart rate is not detected when standing, the monitoring equipment has been withdrawn, and blood oxygen is measured from time to time. There is no more dry mouth or bitter taste. Oxygen level is 100 while using the oxygen mask and 98 without. CT examination shows the improvement in lungs.
CT: taken when in critical situation
CT: taken two days ago
Prescription: Xìngrén 10 dòukòu 10 dōngguā rén 20 lú gēn 15 fǎ xià 10 cāngzhú 15 hǔzhàng 5 huò xiāng 15 hòu pǔ 10 cǎo guǒ 5 bīnláng 5 shí chāngpú 5 qiānghuó 5 bǎnlángēn 5 xièbái 10 shēngjiāng 5 shēng gǔ yá 20 shēng shānzhā 5 chǎo nèi jīn 5
2 bags
Note: current intake of glucose is 1000. It can’t be more and is better to be reduced.
7th consultation: Feb 15th, 2019
Medication intake: took one bag of previous formula. Has stopped Lopinavir for 5 days.
Current condition: no fever. Heart rate 85. Currently in hospital. Switched the oxygen mask to nasal oxygen tube. Oxygen level is 100 when using the oxygen tube and 98 without. Barely cough; no phlegm. No dizziness. Slightly panting after talking. Yellowish urine, slightly loose yellow and brown stools. No diarrhea. 2-3 times of bowl movements a day. Good sleep. Spirit is better. No dry mouth or bitter taste.
Nucleic acid test was negative 2 days ago. He won’t be discharged for another 2 nucleic acid tests with negative results. It still shows that he is getting better.
Formula 1:
Lú gēn 15 fǎ xià 10 cāngzhú 15 yīn chén 5 huò xiāng 15 hòu pǔ 10 cǎo guǒ 5 bīnláng 5 shí chāngpú 5 qiānghuó 5 bǎnlángēn 5 xièbái 10 shēngjiāng 5 shēng gǔ yá 20 shēng shānzhā 5 chǎo nèi jīn 5
3 bags
Formula 2
Lú gēn 15 fǎ xià 10 cāngzhú 15 yīn chén 5 huò xiāng 15 hòu pǔ 10 yín huā 2 bīnláng 5 shí chāngpú 5 qiānghuó 5 bǎnlángēn 3 báikòurén 10 dōngguā rén 15 shēngjiāng 5 rénshēn 2 shēng shānzhā 5 chǎo nèi jīn 5
3 bags.
Formula 3
Lú gēn 15 fǎ xià 10 cāngzhú 15 yīn chén 5 huò xiāng 15 hòu pǔ 5 yín huā 2 qiānghuó 5 bǎnlángēn 3 báikòurén 10 dōngguā rén 15 shēngjiāng 5 rénshēn 2 shēng shānzhā 5 chǎo nèi jīn 5
3 bags
Other formulas: Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Ye, Chuan Xiong Cha Tiao Wan
On Feb 18th, 2020, the patient has recovered and is discharged.
