Cold and flu guide: which Chinese herbal formula, and when to start it
Get your free cold and flu guide
Before you're sick at 2 a.m. trying to find the right formula for your symptoms.
Your cold has stages, and your herbs should too. In Chinese medicine, a cold moves. It can start as a scratchy throat on the surface and end as a cough that hangs on for 2 weeks. Each stage calls for a different formula.
Inside: 23 Evergreen formulas organized by what you feel right now, with when to start each one. Print it, keep it in the cabinet, and stock the formulas that fit your pattern now.
How to use this guide
Find the stage that matches your symptoms, then the formula that matches your pattern. Two things matter most:
Start early. Exterior-releasing formulas like Yin Qiao San and Jing Fang Bai Du San are meant for the first day or two, while the illness is still on the surface.
Hot or cold changes the formula. A sore throat, fever and thirst point toward a wind-heat formula. Chills, body aches and no thirst point toward a wind-cold formula.
1. Before you get sick, and the first sore throat
Yu Ping Feng San
For the person who catches every cold going around, sweats easily and hates drafts. Tonifies qi and consolidates the exterior. Start: now, and take it through the season.
Yin Qiao San
Early wind-heat: sore throat, fever more than chills, headache, thirst. Start: at the first scratch in your throat.
Sang Ju Yin
Early wind-heat where a dry cough leads: dry throat, slight fever, mild thirst. Start: when a dry cough is the first sign.
2. The first chill, the aches, and feeling run down
Jing Fang Bai Du San
Early wind-cold-damp: chills, body aches, stiff neck and shoulders, headache, stuffy nose. Start: when the chill and aches hit.
Gui Zhi Tang
Wind-cold in a person with a weak exterior: chills and fever, sweating that doesn't break the fever, stiff neck, aversion to wind. Start: early, if you were worn down going in.
Herbal AVR
For the person who is run down when it hits. Clears deficiency heat, eliminates toxins and enhances wei (defensive) qi. Designed to be used with other Evergreen formulas. Start: alongside your day 1 formula.
3. It's settled into your head and throat
Herbal ENT
Heat in the head and upper jiao: sinus pressure, sore throat, ears. Start: when it moves to your sinuses or ears.
Herbal ABX
Strong heat signs. Clears heat, eliminates toxins, purges fire and drains damp-heat. Start: alongside Herbal ENT when the heat is strong.
Chuan Xiong Cha Tiao San
Wind headache: pain at the temples or top of the head, stuffy nose, worse in wind. Start: when the headache is the worst part.
4. When it hits your stomach or sinuses
Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San
Exterior wind-cold with interior dampness: chills with nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, and a stuffy, heavy chest and belly. Start: when the cold goes to your gut.
Xin Yi San
Wind-cold blocking the nose: clear or white mucus, sneezing, heavy frontal headache. Start: when congestion is clear and cold.
Xin Yi Qing Fei Tang
Lung heat congesting the nose: thick yellow mucus, red swollen nose, heat and pressure in the face. Start: when the mucus turns yellow.
5. It won't let go
Xiao Chai Hu Tang
Shao yang pattern: chills and fever that trade off, bitter taste, nausea, low appetite. Start: when it won't fully clear.
Chai Hu Gui Zhi Tang
Tai yang and shao yang together: still achy and chilled, a little queasy, full under the ribs. Start: when it lingers in pieces.
Zhi Sou San
The cold is gone but the cough isn't: itchy throat, coughing in bouts, phlegm that's hard to bring up. Start: when the cough outlasts the cold.
6. The cough left behind: match it to the phlegm
Respitrol (Heat)
Clears Lung heat and dissolves phlegm. Yellow, sticky phlegm. Start: when the phlegm turns yellow.
Respitrol (Cold)
Warms the Lungs and dispels wind and cold. Clear or white phlegm, worse in cold air. Here, "Cold" names the pattern. Start: when cold air sets off the cough.
Respitrol (CF)
Descends Lung qi, eliminates phlegm and nourishes yin. A cough that keeps catching, a little phlegm, a little dry. Start: when the cough reflex won't settle.
7. Getting your energy back
Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang
Spleen qi deficiency: wiped out after it's over, tired after any effort, low appetite, want to lie down. Start: when you're still drained after.
Sha Shen Mai Dong Tang
Lung and Stomach yin damaged after a fever: dry throat and mouth, dry cough with little phlegm, thirst. Start: when a fever leaves you dried out.
Yu Ping Feng San
Back to the start. Consolidate the exterior before the next round. Start: once you're well again.
Three more worth knowing
Immune +
For the person who catches everything and gets hit hard. Builds wei (defensive) qi with astragalus, reishi and cordyceps. Start: now, before the season peaks.
Ren Shen Bai Du San
Wind-cold-damp in a person whose qi is already weak: chills, body aches, stiff neck, stuffy nose, marked fatigue. Start: when the aches hit a tired body.
Pu Ji Xiao Du Yin
Fire toxin in the head and neck: severe sore throat, red swollen glands, high fever, hard to swallow. Start: when throat swelling is severe.
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Not sure which one is yours?
Every herbal order from La Sante Vie is screened before it ships. We check for other practitioners you're working with, pregnancy or breastfeeding, prescription medications including blood thinners, and allergies.
If your pattern doesn't fit neatly into one row, book a call with Dr. Stacee and she'll match a formula to you. Questions? Call the store at 725-800-8930 or email info@lasantevie.com.
References
Evergreen Herbs product monographs. Chen J, Chen T. Chinese Herbal Formulas and Applications. City of Industry, CA: Art of Medicine Press; 2009.