Hi BattlingNelson,
I did try Pepcid once, but it didn't seem to work for me.
With Zantac 150, I take it -- I'm still trying to find that sweet spot -- about 30-minutes before drinking. On the first drink, I'll feel a little warmth, sometimes I don't feel the warmth at all, and maybe I get a little flushing. By the time I get to the second drink, I think the Zantac has completely neutralized(?) the alcohol, so I don't get any at flushing or heat at all, but I do start feeling the effects of the alcohol.
It pretty much stays like that for each drink. I can only do about 4 drinks though because I really feel it by then. Also, I'm drinking 1 drink an hour, maybe less 45-min, so I'm not knocking them down one after the other.
One time I did go over the 4 limit, me and some friends were in SF, and the last drink i had was an Irish Car Bomb. Even though I didn't flush, I really felt drunk and because you have to slam it down fast, I felt kind of sick, but I didn't puke. :) But I usually don't go over 3 drinks.
I've also accidentally started drinking, just wine, before I took the Zantac 150, and I immediately flushed and turned red and my heart was thumping. So I took the Zantac immediately and it took about 10-15-minutes to fix the flush! So it's better to take the pill before drinking but if you forget, you can still take it during.
And be sure to drink plenty of water in-between to stay hydrated!
BTW, my flushing seems to happen regardless of the alcohol proof. I'll get the Flush from beer, wine, Vodka, Whiskey, it really doesn't matter. Although the strange thing is, I used to get it from just drinking NyQuil when I had a cold. Now, I can take the NyQuil and I don't experience the flushing.