Expert: Joseph Alban, MS, L.Ac - 4/23/2009

Question
Hello, My husband is 28 yo and has been suffering for almost 3 years with intestinal issues, as well as depression. They seem to correlate, when stomach is acting up, the depression comes on for several days. Our western doc put him on Effexor and it was horrible. We weaned him off; we are now dealing with the dep. with exercise, yoga, and other mind/body work. We want to follow as natural a path as possible.

Our family phys ordered an EGD and colonoscopy. The results showed several ulcers, some new, some healed. The west docs have not addressed one issue, that he bleeds from bowels a lot. A doc in Canada said it was probably a fissure that doesn't heal. He has very loose stools, never anything very solid.  He has a lot of mucous with the BMs as well. I hear him crying out in the loo and it is so sad.

A reference to a TCM book seemed to lead us to believe this is Spleen deficiency. He has many of the symptoms listed, along with dampness.  Does this sound like spleen def?

He started seeing an acupuncturist but we cannot afford it anymore. I wish we could...he had told him no salads or cold foods, and not much else.

We are trying to address this with diet and are feeling a bit lost....  He is in othewise good health but it is hard to believe a 28 yo man would have so many stomach/bowel problems.

Answer
Hello Lee,

Stomach pain and discomfort is very treatable with Chinese medicine and acupuncture. I have had a lot of success treating many different digestive and abdominal complaints.

I cannot specifically say what it is caused by without seeing you.  I would recommend you find an acupuncturist in your area who can help. There are a lot of schools which have low cost clinics.  Also, acupuncture community clinics are popping up all over north America.  I would call a number of places to find someone.

Chinese medicine works by addressing imbalances in the body.  Once the imbalance is corrected, the body works to heal itself.  Often with issues of the digestive tract, the diagnosis can be associated with what we consider the body's vital energy, called qi.  The spleen in fact makes qi through digesting food.  Correcting this imbalance in qi can lead to a long term improvement

It is certainly possible that he has spleen qi vacuity, but as I said before, I can't know without seeing him.  He also could have dampness, heat, liver qi stagnation, etc.  In general, those with digestive issues should eat cooked foods, stay away from salads as you said.  Rice and noodles are good, vegetables are of course good, but they should be stir fried, steamed, or, even better, cooked in a soup. No cold foods, as you said.  Try more easy to digest foods, like light soups.  Some people find the root of kudzu plant to be helpful for digestion.  Also steamed daikon can help. Stay away from greasy and fatty foods.   

I believe that acupuncture and Chinese herbs are really the best choice for you. Chinese medicine is a holistic approach that addresses both the mind and body.  

You also can also try other techniques for overall health which can boost digestion. Here is a qi gong exercise, which I find very helpful for those with digestive issues (this is not a replacement for treatment, but a supplement.) http://albanacupuncture.com/blog/?p=106

Trying finding a qi gong or tai chi class in your area.  

Also, you can try using acufinder.com or NCCAOM.org to find a practitioner in your area.

All the best,

Joseph
Alban Acupuncture and Herbs
Secrets from the Chinese Medicine Cabinet
AlbanAcupuncture.com/blog

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