Hi Everyone,
I came across these forums about 2 months ago. I am 100% Chinese, f, mid-20s, ~115lbs....and have suffered from the 'asian flush' since I started drinking. I found after 1/2 a mixed drink (eg. vodka cran) I would have a BEET RED face + body, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, nausea, and a pounding head. It's been a social embarrassment as long as I can remember and as I have a very diverse group of friends (in terms of ethnicity) I've always been asked if I'm feeling alright or if I'm drunk or hear the comment 'you are REALLY red'. THANKS. I KNOW.
I'm not sure the age of most of you on the forum, but being past university/college age, I also have work events where I need to take clients out etc. Needless to say I don't look professional with a RED face and just abstain from drinking in those situations. I find wine (esp. red) really does a number on me, even with a few sips. I usually stick with liquor like vodka, amaretto, and rum but regardless of what I drink, I always experience the same effects. By 3-4 drinks I feel pretty dizzy and sick so I usually need to stop.
I am very social, and since now have just dealt with the redness by 'sucking it up'. In the last couple weeks, I've tried about 30mg of pepcid about an hour before going out drinking with friends and it WORKS! I'm still a little pink but it is nothing compared to drinking without using pepcid. I haven't been pushing my drinking so far, just about 3-4 drinks or so each time I go out (usually 2x a week). I have no more rapid heartbeat, dizziness or a killer headache and I am absolutely thrilled! I plan to increase the amount of drinks in the next couple weeks to find out what my limits are.
I know i've rambled on, but here is my MAIN QUESTION. It's about FOOD. From what I've read, the general consensus is not to eat at all right before or during drinking. I've been following this suggestion and while it hasn't been a big deal when going out with friends, what about dinner parties, weddings, bbqs where the alcohol is flowing along with the food?? How do you all deal with that? Do you just eat very little? Do you add more mg of pepcid during the evening? I love food, and it would be very noticeable to everyone that I wasn't eating or eating very little - especially at a formal function. It upsets me that I have to sacrifice food for the sake of not looking like a tomato while drinking.
Has anyone a solution to this? What are everyone's experiences with:
1. big meal while drinking, followed by more drinking (dinner party)
2. drinking, followed by a normal to big meal plus drinking, and then more drinking (wedding)
3. drinking and eating in moderation but through the whole day (bbq)
How much pepcid do you have? When do you take the pepcid? When do you find the redness comes back? Which foods do you avoid?
Just to clarify, when I talk about drinking during a meal, I mean a few drinks, not like 10. :P
I know all of you must have situations like this, so if anyone could shed some light on this, I'm sure everyone (including me) would be very thankful.
Thanks to e.cheng for creating these forums!