@Betty, I am sorry for late response. The main reason for this person’s need to cut down on tea is because his condition is very complicated. Other than the risk of contradiction between tea and the many medications that he may be using, there is also the risk of further weakening of yin energy.
Let me explain. In usual circumstances, a 45 to 60 min separation between tea and medicine is amply safe. However, when there is the concern of emotional elements in the condition, it is better to run safe.
In TCM terms, tea helps to pacify redundant yang energy and encourage its storage. In this particular case, the patient’s yin energy is depleted because of over drawn of yang energy. That means there really is no more yang energy to subdue. I worry about further lowering go the remaining yin energy when administered with an over balance of tea.
That is why I recommend the use of very general tonic for the weak yin and over draft of yang. However, this person needs to reconstitute his yin in the faculty of kidney functions with a complex herbal formula tailored for his actual conditions. This is beyond me and beyond what the few words of description can do.
