San Sheng San三圣散
Three-Sage Powder
Ingredients3 herbs
Indications
Wind-phlegm congesting the upper bodyin a robust patient: the classical picture is thick phlegm audible in the throat, a clamped jaw and a clouded spirit, held to be an excess blockage sitting above the diaphragm. Every one of these presentations is, in modern terms, an emergency requiring immediate medical assessment.
Clinical Manifestations
- Wind-phlegm blocking the throat with noisy breathing (classical use)
- Sudden collapse of the closed type with clamped jaw (classical use)
- Epilepsy-type patterns attributed to phlegm (classical use)
- Throat obstruction with copious drool (classical use)
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- The classical text's own limit — the decoction was sipped slowly and stopped the instant vomiting began — the remainder was discarded rather than finished
- Any deficiency, bleeding history, or advanced age — excluded outright; the tradition itself restricted the vomiting method to patients with reserves
- Ginseng or any in the patient's other prescriptions — incompatible — Li Lu must not meet Ren Shen,, Dan Shen, Xuan Shen, Ku Shen, Xi Xin or under the
Contraindications
Taken constituent by constituent: Li Lu (Veratrum nigrum root) is cardiotoxic — its steroidal alkaloids cause bradycardia, hypotension, arrhythmia, vomiting that will not stop, and in poisoning, collapse and respiratory failure; deaths are documented, and the toxic dose is close to the emetic one. Gua Di is toxic in its own right through cucurbitacins, damaging the gut lining, liver and kidneys in excess. Fang Feng alone is mild. The incompatibility is absolute here: Li Lu must never be combined with Ren Shen,, Dan Shen, Xuan Shen, Ku Shen, Xi Xin or, and a patient may already be taking one of these without saying so. The act of vomiting adds its own dangers — aspiration of stomach contents into the lungs, sodium, potassium and chloride loss with dehydration, and tearing of the lower oesophagus from forceful retching. The formula is absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy and postpartum, in the elderly and frail, in children, in anyone with a bleeding tendency, ulcer or oesophageal varices, and in anyone with heart disease, arrhythmia or hypertension — the last of these matters especially, since Li Lu acts directly on the heart. It must never be given to someone drowsy, confused or unconscious, who cannot protect the airway, which excludes the very stroke and seizure presentations it was written for. Sudden collapse, seizure, clamped jaw or an obstructed throat is a medical emergency: call emergency services. Suspected poisoning likewise needs a hospital and a poison centre, not an emetic.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy, postpartum and while breastfeeding. Li Lu is cardiotoxic and Gua Di is toxic; violent induced vomiting is unsafe in pregnancy on its own account.
Related Formulas
References
Source Ru Men Shi Qin 《儒门事亲》 · Jin
- Classical source named in the source fields (pre-1900, public domain).
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）— chapter placement, 功用 and pattern analysis cross-checked.
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.