🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Insomnia affects many people, and many seek traditional Chinese medicine to overcome sleeplessness.
Dr. Li Tao, head of the Neurology Department at the West Garden Hospital, Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, was interviewed.
Dr. Li explained that TCM refers to insomnia as “bù mèi” (not sleeping), attributing it to imbalance between zang-fu organs and yin-yang. In TCM theory, yang energy dominates during daytime activity, while yin prevails at night when mental activity decreases. At night, the body should transition from yang to yin, becoming calm. If yang fails to enter yin, mental activity remains overly excited, leading to insomnia. Additionally, TCM holds that “the heart stores spirit,” meaning all mental activities are governed by the heart (a functional concept, not anatomical). Thus, TCM treatment focuses on nourishing the heart, calming the spirit, clearing heat, and nourishing yin.
TCM treatments include herbal decoctions, acupuncture, and qigong, with herbal formulas being most common. Dr. Li emphasized that prescriptions are individualized based on specific conditions—no universal formula fits everyone.
One patient, a woman over 40, suffered insomnia for over a month. Initially self-medicating with sleeping pills (1 tablet daily, increasing to 2), she developed anxiety and stopped taking them, turning to TCM. Dr. Li diagnosed her with deficiency of heart and spleen with phlegm-heat.
The prescription centered on Gui Pi Tang (containing Codonopsis, Astragalus, Atractylodes, Poria, Angelica, Rehmannia, longan flesh, etc.), supplemented with herbs like sour jujube seed, mimosa bark, lily, and scorched gardenia to clear heat. She took one decoction daily, boiled twice, divided into two doses. After one week, improvement began; after two weeks, nearly fully recovered.
Dr. Li noted other formulas like Huang Lian E Jiao Ji Zi Huang Tang, Sour Jujube Seed Decoction, and patent medicines like Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan are also commonly used to tonify heart and spleen, clear heart fire, and calm the spirit for insomnia.
Acupuncture and other methods require repeated clinic visits, making them less practical than home-based herbal decoctions, so Dr. Li considers them less accessible.
Dietary therapy is widely used for insomnia. Common ingredients include lily, jujube, wheat (floating wheat), lotus seeds (or lotus seed core). These can be decocted or made into porridge—easy to consume.
Dr. Li also stressed good sleep habits. Short-term sleep deprivation causes little harm; fear of sleep is unnecessary. If unable to sleep, get up, return to bed when sleepy, and avoid naps during the day. For occasional insomnia, proper rest or environmental changes usually suffice.