Gu And You -Driving Out Unwanted Guests
March 19th - this is a living blog, I may pop back in and expand on it as things cross my mind —April
The first time I treated Gu Syndrome was for my final case study to graduate from the Amma Therapy program, back in 1993. The project required each potential graduate to work with a client for a minimum of 6 Amma treatments, that were focused on identifying and treating the client’s pattern of disharmony. This included a detailed intake and Chinese medicine assessment, research into common western medical diagnosis and treatment of the pattern, and the creation of a detailed, personalized Chinese medicine treatment plan including herbal and nutritional, and lifestyle recommendations.
My particular client was dealing with intestinal worms that they picked up while traveling abroad. They were very sick, with numerous digestive complaints, physical weakness and they ‘didn’t feel like themselves.’ We had a lot of work to do to clear their unwanted guests. Talk about being tossed into the deep end of the pool.
Fortunately, they were very strong and had few health problems before the infection, and they acted relatively quickly. They were committed and very compliant with the herbal, nutritional, and lifestyle recommendations. They cleared the pathogen over the course of a few months. We continued to work together for the next few months to rebuild and strengthen digestion and immunity, they then moved to a regular maintenance protocol. I had the pleasure of working with them as a regular client for years after.
What is Gu Syndrome?
Identification of Gu patterns date back to the time of oracle bones in China. The image I chose for this blog is an oracle seal depicting worms in a pot that are left to eat each other until one venomous creature is left. The poison was then used to curse or poison someone. The identification and treatment of Gu is steeped in the magic and myths of the culture. You will find texts describing curses, black magic, demons, spirits, possession, toxic insects, worms, and snakes — it is a fascinating topic to explore.
For now, let’s come back to Gu syndrome in present day life and medicine. The contemporary Chinese character for Gu 蛊, also reflect worms or poisonous insects in a pot, but is most often translated as ‘poison’ or ‘toxin.’
Here is an excerpt from a 2008 interview with Heiner Freuhauf, a leading scholar of Chinese medicine who has done extensive work with Gu syndromes.
“Gu syndrome actually means that your system is hollowed out from the inside out by dark yin forces that you cannot see. This not seeing often includes Western medical tests that come back negative for parasites. So from a certain perspective, AIDS falls into this category, with body and mind being hollowed out from the inside out, without knowing what is happening. Gu syndrome originally meant “black magic.” To the patient it felt as though someone had put a hex on them, without anybody—whether it’s the Western medicine community or, in ancient times, the regular Chinese medicine approach—being able to see what was really going on. Regular approaches, the Gu texts say, do not work for this problem. Literally, one quote says: “It looks like regular diarrhea, but if you treat it like regular diarrhea like Spleen deficiency or Yangming damp-heat, it doesn’t work…or it looks like regular constipation, but if you treat it that way, it won’t work.” It can be said that the primary prerequisite for Gu syndrome is that the person has some digestive distress, coupled with neurological distress, such as body pain or mental symptoms—light symptoms such as fogginess, or severe symptoms such as hallucinations—that are not explainable with Western medicine, and that are not explainable either by regular diagnostic patterning that we’ve learned in TCM school.”
Fascinating. Read the full interview here.
The causes of Gu
Gu is often caused by bad house guests—something comes in that you don’t want (parasites, worm, microbes, or infections) and you aren’t able to clear it quickly, it may become stuck 1/2 interior, 1/2 exterior. Or a tenant starts to take over and grow unabated (yeast, fungal infections). A few examples —
Viral attack— Lyme’s disease, norovirus, Covid, herpes, HIV, encephalitis, etc.
Exterior invasion by parasite, amoeba, and protozoa. There is a prevalence for Gu syndromes for those who live, work or visit, 3rd world countries where sanitation is lacking. It is also common in tropical climates, so be cautious when you travel to not bring something home.
Bacterial infections that become chronic —Staph, strep, etc.
Chronic fungal infections and yeast overgrowth.
Many difficult, or ‘mysterious’ diseases such a MS, Chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, Epstein-Barr, IBS, Leaky gut, Lupus, colitis, cancers, Crohn’s disease, etc. while they may not exactly be Gu, they may have Gu like properties that benefit from common treatment for Gu patterns.
Note - not all invasions lead to a state of Gu in the body. For example — Three people at dinner can end up contracting a norovirus, two may clear it out quickly over the course of a day or two, while another may be battling debilitated digestive vitality for months after.
Some viruses and patterns will never fully leave the body —think mono, HIV, it’s looking like Covid falls into this camp too — rather the goal is to get the pattern under control and the host strong enough to suppress or minimize flare ups.
Symptoms and indications of Gu
Gu syndrome present as a combination of digestive issues, mental/emotional, and physical symptoms.
General physical symptoms — Low energy, weak muscles, decreasing strength, body aches, wandering aches and pains, cold sweats or inability to regulate body temperature. Light and noise sensitivity. Waning health, dark circles under the eyes, and decreased immunity, frequent infections, and increasing chronic patterns.
Digestive symptoms — Digestive parasites, amoebas, viruses, chronic imbalance in the digestive floral and fauna such as leaky gut, IBS, Chron’s disease. Chronic digestive difficulties, diarrhea and/or constipation, explosive bowels, nausea, vomiting gas, bloating, poor digestion, sugar imbalances, sugar or alcohol cravings, nausea, bloating, blood and pus in the stools.
Mental and emotional symptoms — Brain fog, confusion, extreme mood swings, anger, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, emotional volatility, chaotic thoughts, seizures, ‘speaking with ghosts’ or ‘feeling possessed’, or ‘not myself’. They often feel muddled, unfocused and may move erratically from one thought to another.
The genitourinary tract is susceptible to Gu which may present as chronic bladder or yeast infections, sexually transmitted diseases (herpes), and infections and inflammation of the uterus, ovaries and prostate.
Gu patterns are stubborn, often difficult to treat and require a lot of dedication from the client to clear. How long that takes depends on the pathogen, the state of the client’s health at the time of infection and other chronic conditions that may thicken the bog.
Look for patterns of chronic phlegm. Phlegm itself is thick, stagnates and bogs down the healthy creation, movement and management of Qi, Blood and Fluids. It can be systemic throughout the entire body, or be present in the digestive system, lungs, sinuses, it can lurk in the joints and in the spaces between the muscles and flesh, it can cloud the mind —as we see in ADD, ADHD, and many psycospiritual disharmonies.
Preexisting patterns of damp, phlegm, and stagnation leave the client vulnerable to invasion or concurrent issues. For example a person with a chronic sinus infection will be more susceptible to rhinovirus, etc.
I always suspect Gu when there is any chronic inflammation of the lymphatic system.
Rebound patterns are often an indicator of Gu. They felt great for a few days or a week and then suddenly backslide. They may have come off clearing too quickly.
What can you do about Gu?
Seek treatment, guidance, and support from a knowledgeable, qualified practitioner. Gu is complex and treatment needs to be personalized. It is a mix of excess (the invader, overgrowth) and deficiency (weakened digestive, immune system) at the time of affliction. The general protocol is to —
Harmonize Xiao Yang Stage Disorder — Patterns such as mono, long Covid that are stuck 1/2 interior 1/2 exterior
Clear Heat
Release Pathogenic Qi
Transform Phlegm
Harmonize the Middle Burner
Support Normal Qi
Comfort Shen, Calm the Mind
We must clear first!
Do not use tonifying herbs and formulas such as ginseng or rhodiola which will increase the syndrome’s strength. Gu patterns are stubborn and like to hold on, and sometimes clients turn to tonifying herbs and foods too quickly.
Stick with it. Expect to spend 6 months to 3 years depending on the severity of the syndrome and their health and compliance in treatment.
Some of the most common treatment protocols Amma or Acupuncture practitioners
Aggressive energy
Interior/Exterior Dragons
Sun Si Miao’s 13 Ghost Points — I find them helpful for treating Gu that afflicts the mental and emotional health of the client.
Moxibustion, cupping, and gua sha
Points selection will be further refined based individual cases and the organs, channels and systems that are predominately affected.
Herbal and nutritional recommendations
There are numerous herbal formulas that may be used for clearing Gu patterns. The formula should be selected to treat the particular pattern the client has. Seek a knowledgeable practitioner. These are very clearing formulas that are often used for a relatively short period of time (1 - 6 months). After clearing treatment should move to tonifying and rebuilding the systems that were afflicted.
Lightning Pearls and Thunder Pearls — from Heiner Fruehauf’s Classical Pearls line.
Xiao Chai Hu Tan Wan
Long Tan Xie Gan Wan, or Coptis Purge Fire
Clear Phlegm, Artestatin, Phellostatin — from Health Concerns
I often include the use of single that specifically boost the body’s scavengers may be used in conjunction with formulas. In western herbalism terms these are the antiviral, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, anti-inflammatory herbs. A few examples —
barberry
black walnut
caprylic acid
clove
coptis
echinacea
garlic
goldenseal
grapefruit seed extract
oregano
perilla
propolis
tea tree
Foods to avoid
Worms, fungus and yeast feed off refined grains, gluten and sugar. You may be asked to cut out grains for a specific length of time.
refined grains and gluten rich grains
dairy
sugar and most fruits
raw meats and fish
rich meats pork and lamb
rancid nuts and oils
greasy and fried foods
mold prone foods — peanuts
Foods to increase
We are going to steer clear of most sweet foods (pumpkin being an exception), processed grains, and use an abundance of pungent, bitter and sour to help clear, stabilize and astringe.
pumpkin and pumpkin seeds
radish
onions, leeks, garlic, chives
pungent food and herbs — mints, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, arugula, cabbages, lettuces,
bitter foods and herbs — dandelion, bitter melon, citrus peels, edible flowers (lavender, viola, rose). I often recommend a digestive bitter with each meal.
ferment foods — avoid foods pickled with sugar
aduki and mung beans
turkey, chicken and
small amounts of gluten free grains
chlorophyll rich foods — Especially spirulina for sugar and alcohol cravings
All recommendations in the Draining Damp blog will apply in treatment of Gu too.
Here’s to a clearer, stronger you!
Need to book an appointment? I am available for in person Amma session, online or phone sessions.
May you only have the guest you invite in your house.
April
