Your doctor or practitioner will discuss with you the reasons and options for you to take Chinese herbal medicine. Depending on the specifics of the condition to be treated, they will likely recommend that you continue with a course of herbs for about 1 month.
After this period, your practitioner will assess your response to the course of treatment, allowing them to determine if you should continue with the same prescription, if it requires adjustment, or if you no longer need to take the medicine.
The effects of Chinese medicine are not as quick acting as Western pharmaceutical medicine, however, they are more natural and far less likely to cause side effects. You should start to notice some effects after about 1 week.