Patient's question:
Dear Director Jiang,I have rhinitis, gastritis, and colitis. In the past, while treating my rhinitis, the medications, being cooling in nature, caused significant irritation to my stomach, leading to frequent acid reflux. Given this situation, I would like to consult you about which rhinitis medication would not interact negatively with my gastritis and colitis medications.
Thank you very much!
Doctor's answer:
Allergies come in various types, and it doesn't necessarily mean that cold-natured herbs must be used. Perhaps for you, a cooling herb might be needed, but this depends on the results of the syndrome differentiation. However, you mentioned that the cooling herbs cause significant stomach irritation, leading to frequent acid reflux. This indicates that your stomach is also suffering from a disease, suggesting a deficiency in the spleen and stomach Qi. In fact, if the condition is truly upper heat and lower cold, it is possible to use both cold and warm herbs in Chinese medicine. Moreover, herbs have specific meridian tropism, and their concentrations in the body differ. Therefore, the two conditions can be treated simultaneously. As for choosing a rhinitis medication that does not conflict with gastroenteritis or gastroenteritis medications, this is the necessity of syndrome differentiation in traditional Chinese medicine. A prescription should only be determined after a thorough differentiation of the syndrome.