Experience of a bitter flavor not attributable to foodstuffs. Bitter taste is the most commonly reported deviation from harmony of mouth. It is explained in terms of bile in the mouth. The Magic Pivot (灵枢 líng shū, sì shí qì piàn) states, When bile is discharged, there is a bitter taste in the mouth. It is a sign of liver or gallbladder disease and most commonly reflects steaming of gallbladder qì when there is heat in the liver and gallbladder. Plain Questions (素问 sù wèn, qí bìng lùn) states, When there is illness marked by a bitter taste in the mouth... the disease is called gallbladder pure heat... the person [affected] is one who plots and schemes indecisively so that the gallbladder becomes vacuous and qì spills upward to make the mouth bitter.
Patterns
Lesser yáng (shào yáng) disease (少阳病 shào yáng bìng) causes bitter taste in the mouth with dry throat, headache, dizzy vision, alternating heat and cold, bitter fullness in the chest and rib-side, heart vexation and frequent vomiting, reduced intake of food, yellow urine, thin white or yellow tongue fur, and a forceful floating stringlike pulse. On Cold Damage (伤寒论 shāng hán lùn) states, lesser yáng (shào yáng) disease: bitter taste in the mouth, and dizzy vision.
Medicinal therapy: Harmonize the lesser yáng (shào yáng) with variations of Minor Bupleurum Decoction (小柴胡汤xiǎo chái hú tāng).
Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on TB, PC, GB, and LR. Select TB-4 (Yáng Pool, 阳池 yáng chí), PC-6 (Inner Pass, 内关 nèi guān), GB-40 (Hill Ruins, 丘墟 qiū xū), LR-5 (Woodworm Canal, 蠡沟 lǐ gōu), and GB-38 (Yáng Assistance, 阳辅 yáng fǔ); needle with even supplementation and drainage or with drainage.
Depressed liver-gallbladder heat (肝胆郁热 gān dǎn yù rè) can cause bitter taste in the mouth with heart vexation, dry mouth with desire to drink, sighing and irascibility, dizzy head and headache, red eyes and dizzy vision, distension and pain in the rib-sides, yellow urine, stool tending to be dry, red margins of the tongue, thin yellow or slimy yellow tongue fur, and a rapid stringlike pulse.
Medicinal therapy: Clear and resolve depressed liver-gallbladder heat using Gentian Liver-Draining Decoction (龙胆泻肝汤lóng dǎn xiè gān tāng). If there is phlegm-heat harassing the inner body, use Coptis Gallbladder-Warming Decoction (黄连温胆汤huáng lián wēn dǎn tāng).
Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on LR and GB. Select BL-18 (Liver Transport, 肝俞 gān shù), LR-2 (Moving Between, 行间 xíng jiān), GB-43 (Pinched Ravine, 侠溪 xiá xī), GB-34 (Yáng Mound Spring, 阳陵泉 yáng líng quán), GB-40 (Hill Ruins, 丘墟 qiū xū), ST-36 (Leg Three Lǐ, 足三里 zú sān lǐ), PC-6 (Inner Pass, 内关 nèi guān), and GB-38 (Yáng Assistance, 阳辅 yáng fǔ); needle with drainage.