Qing Dai - 青黛 - Indigo Naturalis

Pharmaceutical Latin:	Indigo Naturalis
Common English:	Indigo Natural Indigo

Properties

Taste	Temperature	Entering Meridians	Dosage
Salty	Cold	Liver Lung Stomach	1.5-3g Use in pill or powdered form and add to strained decoction

Actions	Indications/Syndromes
Clears Heat, Cools the Blood, Reduces maculae, Resolves Fire toxicity	Maculae due to Blood Heat (Xue Stage Heat) Can be used alone for bleeding due to Blood Heat, especially epistaxis
Clears Heat, Cools the Blood, Disperses Stagnation, Reduces swelling, Resolves Fire toxicity	Throat inflammation, dysphagia, sores of the mouth or mumps due to blazing Heat (internal or topical)
Drains Liver Fire, dispels Summerheat and extinguishes Wind to stop tremors	Convulsions, red eyes, sore throat and other manifestations of Heat, especially Summerheat, affecting the Liver
Clears Liver Fire, drains Lung Heat and cools the Blood	Cough due to Lung Heat Cough and chest pain due to Liver Fire attacking the Lungs

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Do not use if the Heat is due to Yin Deficiency Fire
Use caution for those with Deficiency Cold of the Stomach.
Overdose may cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and hematochezia.
In rare cases this herb may affect the Liver function, decrease platelet count and cause bone marrow suppression.

INCOMPATIBILITIES

HERB/DRUG INTERACTIONS

Patients who are allergic to sulfonylureas such as: tolbutamide (Orinase), glipizide (Glucotrol) and glyburide (DiaBeta/Micronase) and sulfonamides such as: sulfadiazine, sulfisoxazole, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim/Septra), and erythromycin/sulfisoxazole (Pediazole) may also be allergic to Da Qing Ye.

Rx. Rehmanniae Sheng Di Huang Gypsum Fibrosum Shi Gao Rz. Cimicifugae Sheng Ma	Sm. Armeniacae Xing Ren	Cx. Phellodendri Huang Bai Rx. Glycyrrhizae Gan Cao
Maculae due to warm toxin with a flooding, rapid pulse.	Epistaxis or hematemesis due to Blood Heat.	Sores of the mouth and tongue.
Borneolum Bing Pian Alumen Ming Fan	Cx. Phellodendri Huang Bai Gypsum Fibrosum Shi Gao Concha Meretricis/Cyclinae Preparata Duan Ge Qiao	Talcum Hua Shi Rx. Glycyrrhizae Gan Cao
Topically for oral sores that do not heal.	Topically for severe itching from eczema.	Summerheat with red eyes, sore throat and mouth sores.
Rx. Gentianae Long Dan Cao Rz. Coptidis Huang Lian	Calculus Bovis Niu Huang Ram. Uncariae cum Uncis Gou Teng	Concha Meretricis/Cyclinae Ge Qiao
Restlessness and convulsions from Liver Fire.	Convulsions. Febrile convulsions in children.	Liver Fire attacking the Lungs with cough, chest pain and blood streaked sputum.
Pumex Fu Shi Sm. Trichosanthis Gua Lou Ren Bul. Fritillariae Cirrhosae Chuan Bei Mu	Sm. Trichosanthis Gua Lou Ren Bul. Fritillariae Thunbergii Zhe Be Mu Pumex Fu Shi	Borneolum Bing Pian Cx. Phellodendri Huang Bai
Cough from Lung Heat with yellow, viscous and difficult to expectorate sputum.	Lung Heat.	Topically for eczema and oral ulcers.
Cacumen Platycladi Ce Bai Ye Rz. Imperatae Bai Mao Gen	Rx. Scrophulariae Xuan Shen Flos Lonicerae Jin Yin Hua Fr. Forsythiae Lian Qiao
Bleeding.	Sore throat.

It is produced by processing Fol. Isatidis Da Qing Ye.
Its chief use is for high fevers in children.
Its actions are to clear Heat, resolve toxicity, cool the Blood, reduce maculae, drain the Liver, clear the Lungs, dispel Summerheat and settle convulsions.
Applied topically, it treats inflammation of the mouth and throat, including mumps.
It cools Heat arising from pathogenic invasion.
Lung Heat and Liver Fire are both cooled by it.
It cools the Blood by way of cooling the Liver.
For nosebleeds it is especially effective, whether taken internally or applied topically.
Dysphagia is a particular indication for this herb.
It resolves the toxicity of medicinals of all types.
Research has shown that it inhibits cancer cell growth.
To treat unperforated scrofula, crush Qing Dai together with Hb. Portulacae Ma Chi Xian and apply the mixture to the lesion each day.
Qing Dai, Fol. Isatidis Da Qing Ye and Rx. Isatidis Ban Lan Gen all come from the same plants; each cools Heat in the Blood and reduces skin blotches. Qing Dai is the best of the three for toxic sores from Fire and Heat, rashes from Warm toxins, hemoptysis and hematemesis, and childhood convulsions. Da Qing Ye and Ban Lan Gen both cool Heat toxin in the Heart and Stomach; however, Da Qing Ye is generally chosen for rashes from Warm toxin, whereas Ban Lan Gen is chosen for massive head febrile disorders and throat obstruction from mumps.