Hello,
i am new to the forum and it is good to know that this 'asian flush' thing happens to a lot of people and there is a dedicated forum for this!! i always thought this AF was a hopeless case and I have learnt to sort of accept it... this forum brings me hope!
im **cough** 32 **cough**, male, 100% chinese, and i have been aware of my 'conditions' ever since i started drinking in my teens! at the time i though i was just very unfortunate to be 'allergic' to alcohol, and I must've inherited this from my dear mother. I am the oldest out of 3 in my family - both me, mum, and youngest sister suffers from AF. However my brother (middle) and dad dont - they can drink pints without showing any sign of redness, and it normally takes me 1/4 pint for me flush!
like with everyone here i have tried many things to combat this, although all is with 'natural' methods, i.e. not taking supplements like Pepcid, antacid, etc., mainly coz i didnt know they helped!? but i would try different diet, no diet, drinking water before, in between, etc. I did find that the most effective way for me was to drink on an empty stomach! sure there are signs of slight flushing however it is never that bad, and if i 'ride it out' and carry on the flushing will go away - at some stage I will give in to a nasty burger on the way home from a night and as soon as i start eating i become a beacon! and soon after that it is game over for me...
also if i do drink i find it by moving about (i.e. pub-crawl, bar-hopping) helps as well - the 1st pint will affect me but i can 'control' this by drinking slowly, there after I can sink many pints between pubs / bars before i go red again and by this time we are usually in a club so i dont really care how i look... well. this is also why i dont / cant sit in a quite pub and have a drink or four, the flush will just get worse and soon after i get really tired, to a point where i want to pass out (even if im standing which i have done before!!)! and when i am at this stage there is no turning back - my vision goes and i get this massive head ache! I need to either go home and go to sleep or, somewhere with good music where i can boogey in which case i will get second wind and i can carry on drinking till the early hours.
Sooo, for me the biggest obstacle with AF is that i get tired, i have sort of learnt to accept the redness and so has my non-flushing friends (before they would just point and laugh at me!!), beside this Flushing thing for me can be 'controlled' if i am being tactful before and during drinking. dont get me wrong, now that i know there are remedies out there i will give them a try, however i want to know if anyone gets really tired as well like me and if so what do you guys do to combat this?? i want to know this more than ever as i am apparently going to Octoberfest in Germany this year which involves sitting around a table and drinking lots of beer all day and night with distant in-laws that i have never met! i dont want to be the party pooper that has to tap out early because 'i cant handle my drink'!
any comments welcome!!
Ta!