The Go Bag
Formulas to Have Up One’s Sleeve
Florida, home to Clinical mulch HQ, is currently facing down its second hurricane in two weeks. The previous storm, named Helene, pushed as much as 15 feet of storm surge ashore in Florida (Sarnoff & Amarante, 2024), before inundating the Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Tennessee with trillions of gallons worth of rain (Borenstein, 2024), all causing massive flooding, destruction of property and loss of life. Our friends at Golden Needle in Asheville N.C., have managed to reopen despite the catastrophic conditions, so please help support them if you can.
In the face of such emergencies, it is often recommended to prepare a “go bag”, or “bug out bag”, a pack of essential supplies to get one through at least 72 hours in an evacuation scenario. You can find an example here.
Typically the packing list will include over-the-counter medications, but in my case I would run over to my clinic and grab some remedies from my formula cabinet. I thought I’d share my thinking on this topic here in the mulch. I’ll forgo the house style for this post and render everything in untoned Pinyin in case you want to search the formulas or ingredients.
Beasties
Evacuation can place one into unfamiliar microbial environments. Something to counteract these potentially hostile beasties would therefore rank high on the list of essential items. Here there are a lot of choices, and it might be prudent to consider packing more than one. Looking at things from a warm pathogen angle, direct strike can occur on the wei level or qi level – usually implicating the upper burner (i.e. respiratory) or middle burner (digestive).
Upper burner: Yin Qiao San is probably the most commonly cited warm pathogen formula, and works well for early stage penetration of wind-warmth. Personally, I find it can be hit or miss, and usually rely on one of the more modern formulas like Chuan Xin Lian Wan (Andrographis Pills) or Gan Mao Ling Jie Du Wan (Common Cold Toxin-Resolving Pills). The latter prescription is more tailored to upper respiratory ailments, while the former is more generalized and can even work for urinary symptoms due to the inclusion of pu gong ying [Hb Taraxaci]. The potential problem with Chuan Xin Lian Wan in my experience is that it is quite cold (Gan Mao Ling is only slightly less so), but most people I have given it to have tolerated it well.
Middle burner: This is the sudden turmoil scenario, a gastrointestinal presentation of damp evil that may involve vomiting, diarrhea, or both. In its less virulent form, it can result in dull headache, body aches and heaviness, and fatigue. The recommendation for this in the literature is generally Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San (Pogostemon Qi-Rectifying Powder). An acceptable substitute is Kang Ning Wan, or Curing Pills.
An alternative remedy for both of these would be packing one of the coptis family of formulas. This could be Huang Lian Su Wan (Coptis Single Pills), Huang Lian Jie Du Wan (Coptis Toxin-Resolving Pills), or Ge Gen Qin Lian Wan (Pueraria, Scutellaria and Coptis Pills). All of them have broad antimicrobial effects, and the latter two can address problems in all the various burners, the last being especially indicated for acute diarrhea. The caveat about cold bitter medicinals stands with this group as well, and they don’t address damp evil as effectively as the warm acrid ingredients of Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San, but they are frequently recommended for travelers and merit serious consideration.
Knockout drops
Stress, worry, and sleeplessness can be debilitating in themselves and weaken the correct qi. Something to calm the spirit can be a useful addition to the go bag. The choices here are many. I generally favor a formula that contains at least one heavy settling agent, as I think their sedative effects are stronger than the heart-nourishing type of ingredients. The settling medicinals are also useful in helping to stem anxiety, panic, and substance withdrawal reactions during a crisis.
To this end, the strongest prepared remedy I have come across is Seven Forests’ Salvia & Amber tablets. It contains the heavy settlers hu po (Succinum) and long chi (Dens Draconis) along with the heart-nourishing dan shen (Rx Salviae Miltiorrhizae), suan zao ren (Sm Zizyphi) and ren shen [Rx Ginseng], plus zhu li (Succus Bambusae) to clear the mind. An alternative is An Shen Bu Xin Wan (Spirit-Calming Heart-Supplementing Pills), which (in the Herbal Times formulation I prefer) includes zhen zhu mu (Concha Margaritiferae Usta) to settle along with dan shen and wu wei zi (Fr Schisandrae) to nourish, shi chang pu (Rz Acori) to clear, and a combination of tu su zi (Sm Cuscutae) with han lian cao (Hb Ecliptae) to balance both yin and yang.
What works best for me is not necessarily best for everyone, of course. In cases of blood vacuity, Gui Pi Wan (Spleen-Returning Pills) might be more appropriate, or if there is heart and kidney yin vacuity, Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan (Celestial Emperor’s Heart Supplementing Elixir) may be a better choice.
Pain
Pain is a real drag during even the calmest of times, let alone during a crisis. Most bug-out lists will recommend NSAIDs. But if you have to spend a night or two sleeping on a high-school gym floor or if your period hits, cramping can be a real co-factor as well. For those possibilities one might want to consider formulas based on Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang (Peony and Licorice Decoction). There is the original two-herb combination, of course, which is widely available. But I will often employ a couple of packaged formula variations: Corydalis Formula by Golden Flower or SPZM by Health Concerns. The latter formula is a simple addition of yan hu suo [Rz Corydalis] to Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang. I’ve seen it work for spasmodic pain in a variety of cases where nothing else was helping, especially lower bck, lower limb, and menstrual cramps. SPZM uses wei ling xian [Rx Clematidis] ge gen [Rx Puerariae], and ji xue teng [Caulis Spatholobi] along with calcium and magnesium, and is a little better for neck and upper body spasm, but either formula can treat cramping pain anywhere in the body.
Injury
Accidents will happen. For minor traumatic injury and bleeding, my choice would be Yunnan Baiyao [Yunnan White Medicine] in powder or capsule form. It can be taken internally and applied externally to stanch bleeding (sprinkle it from the bottle or open a capsule, depending on the form you’re carrying it in, and apply a dressing and pressure). Get the patient to emergency services as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Just off the cuff, that would be my thinking on what prepared Chinese herb formulas to take with me in a bug-out situation. This list can also, with some additions, be used to start a housecall bag in less extreme situations, a topic which I may expand on later.
Have I left anything out? Have an alternative recommendation you prefer? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading, and stay safe. My prayers and support go out to those affected by these storms.
Note: this publication is for information purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please seek the opinion of a health care professional for any specific medical issues you may have.
References
Borenstein, S. (2024, October 1) . AP News. Helene and other storms dumped a whopping 40 trillion gallons of rain on the South. https://apnews.com/article/rainfall-helene-carolina-tennessee-georgia-climate-change-flood-fcba634e14a0ffa1a8e1fa85d7e2b390
Harvard Global Support Services. (n.d.). How to Pack a Go Bag. Retrieved October 6, 2024 from https://www.globalsupport.harvard.edu/travel/advice/go-bag-checklist
Sarnoff, L., & Amarante, D. (2024, October 5). ABC News. Tracking Hurricane Helene's destruction: Path, storm surge and rescue efforts. https://abcnews.go.com/US/tracking-hurricane-helenes-destruction-path-storm-surge-rescue/story?id=114471845