Ling Jiao Gou Teng Tang羚角钩藤汤
Antelope Horn and Uncaria Decoction
Ingredients10 herbs
Indications
Liver heat generating wind, that is, heat at its extreme stirring wind. Blazing heat consumes the yin fluids that nourish the sinews, and the sinews, left dry and taut, spasm.
Clinical Manifestations
- High fever with twitching or convulsion, as supportive care
- Persistent fever with restlessness and agitation
- Convulsion with a clouded or confused mind
- Rigidity of the neck and limbs during a febrile illness
- Fever-related severe headache with visual disturbance
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- The mind is clouded or the patient is delirious — orifice-opening formulas of the group are given alongside — after emergency assessment, not instead of it
- Marked heat in the qi level with high fever and thirst — Shi Gao 石膏 and Zhi Mu 知母 are added
- Convulsion is severe — Quan Xie 全蝎 and Wu Gong 蜈蚣 may be added within their dose ceilings
- Fluids badly damaged, tongue dry and cracked — Xuan Shen 玄参 and Mai Men Dong 麦门冬 are added to replace what heat has burnt off
- Ling Yang Jiao unavailable or unlawful to source — Shui Niu Jiao 水牛角 (water buffalo horn) or Shan Yang Jiao (goat horn) is substituted in a substantially larger dose — this is the normal practice, not a compromise
Contraindications
This is supportive treatment inside emergency care, never a replacement for it: fever with convulsion, neck stiffness, a rash that does not blanch, drowsiness or confusion requires an ambulance. Not for convulsion from yin or blood deficiency without heat — the formula is cold and would deepen the depletion; those patterns belong to Da Ding Feng Zhu and its relatives. Not for wind stirred by cold or by deficiency in a pale, cold patient. Its cold nature is hard on a weak digestion, causing loose stools and poor appetite. It contains Chuan Bei Mu, which is classically incompatible with aconite, so it is not combined with the / formulas earlier in this chapter. Use only lawfully sourced material: genuine saiga horn is restricted and often illegal, and the standard substitute is goat or water buffalo horn.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Used in pregnancy only under specialist supervision, and rarely. The formula is markedly cold, and Chuan Bei Mu, Zhu Ru and Sheng Di Huang are all cooling to a degree a pregnant patient with a weak digestion tolerates poorly. Far more important: fever with convulsion in pregnancy is an obstetric emergency and may represent eclampsia or serious infection — it is assessed and treated by an emergency and obstetric team, and herbal treatment has no place ahead of that.
Related Formulas
References
Source Tong Su Shang Han Lun 《通俗伤寒论》 · Qing
- Classical source 《通俗伤寒论》 (public domain in its original form); no line quoted here, as the widely circulated annotated edition is modern.
2. Scheid, Bensky, Ellis & Barolet. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies, 2nd ed. — composition & dosage cross-checked.
3. 《方剂学》（全国中医药行业高等教育规划教材）— pattern analysis cross-checked.
4. CITES listing for Saiga tatarica and national controls on 羚羊角 — sourcing restrictions and accepted substitutes.
Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.