Cold-Damp Obstructing the Spleen

In plain words

A wet cold has settled in the belly: no appetite, a stomach that feels full of water, and legs that have to be dragged.

It comes from outside — rainy days, wet clothes, sleeping on a damp floor — or from inside, with ice cream, cold drinks and raw food packed into a short time. Cold slows the digestive work down, dampness plugs it. The result is a stalled middle that neither digests nor lets anything through: watery-tasting nausea, odorless loose stools, and a heaviness that rest does not lift.

Characteristic symptoms

• Sensation of heaviness and oppression in the epigastrium and abdomen
• Lack of appetite or complete anorexia
• Nausea and vomiting with watery or bland taste
• Soft stools or diarrhea without foul smell
• Cold sensation in the abdomen that improves with warmth
• Heavy limbs and general lethargy
• Sweet or bland taste in the mouth
• Fluid retention or edema in the legs

Key clues to recognize it

• White, thick, slippery tongue coating; the tongue looks swollen and wet.
• A bland or faintly sweet mouth, with no thirst, or thirst without any wish to drink.
• Everything improves with warmth on the belly and worsens on damp days.

Tongue and pulse

Tongue

Pale, moist or swollen tongue, with thick white slippery coating

Pulse

Slow (chí), soggy or slippery (huá) pulse

Treatment principle

Warm the Spleen, eliminate cold-damp, tonify Spleen Yang and dry dampness

Common points

Reference formula

Wei Ling Tang (Calm the Stomach and Five-Ingredient Decoction with Poria)

What not to confuse it with

What aggravates it

• Ice cream, cold soft drinks and very cold fruit on an empty stomach.
• Damp surroundings: basements, staying in wet clothes, days of rain.
• Large fatty meals when the heaviness is already there.
• Sitting still all day: without movement the heaviness grows.

Lifestyle advice

Avoid cold, raw foods, excess dairy, sugar and icy drinks. Prefer warm, cooked and easily digestible meals. Use ginger, cinnamon and turmeric in cooking. Move: movement activates the Spleen. Keep the abdomen warm with appropriate clothing.

When to see a doctor