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Asian Flush / Asian Blush / Asian Glow Community
Discussion and anecdotes about the Asian Flush/Flush/Glow/Red Face (turning red when drinking alcohol), including using H2 blockers (e.g. Tagamet, Pepsid, Zantac) and other products to combat its effects. Hosted by Eric Cheng on http://echeng.com
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Jan 11, 2005: On December 3, 2003, I posted
a message in my web journal about the Asian Blush, which quickly resulted in over 100 very-informative comments. This forum is intended to be an information source for those of us looking for information about why we turn red when we drink alcohol.
April 25, 2006: For now, guests may post new messages. We've gotten some spam, so you now must be registered to post.
NOTE: Please do NOT treat information posted here as medical advice. However, once you've read these forums you'll probably want to get ahold of some Pepcid AC. Please support these forums and
buy pepcid from Amazon.com.
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sweetpea wrote:is it ok to take the famo Pills instead of pepcid?! its got the same stuff kind of..
Not kind of...exactly. Generic famo is exactly the same as the name-brand Pepcid AC. I get 170 pills of generic famotidine for some ridiculously low price like $15 at my wholesale club (BJs Club here in Massachusetts). I used to pay three times that for name-brand. I can tell you that they work just as well as Pepcid. Save your money if you can find the generic. It totally works.
Best,
S
Steph wrote:jasko wrote:Two drinks later I was feeling blah. Extremely drunk and now blah from eating. I knew it too. Good thing we left shortly after. It was around 11 by the time I got home. Stumbled in, went straight to the bathroom, and puked chunks. What a waste of chicken parm that was :(
All in all, I had 2 Captain and Cokes and 7 Absoluts and Pineapple. The food wasn't a wise choice.
I HATE not being able to eat and drink like normal people. Hate hate hate it.
Today is Friday and I had a heatup eggroll about an hour ago. Small food. I'm starving myself to go out and drink. Blah.
Hey guys,
If Snuffy or anyone else with pharmicist friends can ask if it's ok to take pepcid and gaviscon together? Or zantac, claratyne and gaviscon?
I've mentioned a few times that a mate of mine takes Gaviscon to prevent puking when drinking but no one has said whether they've tried it or not... but I would want to make sure that it's ok to take with pepcid first. You guys who suffer from the pukes, like our friend Jasko here, could ask their local pharmacist themselves. I'm lucky that I don't suffer from the pukes so I haven't had the need to find out.
I sympathise greatly with you Jasko... half the fun of going to a wedding is having lots of yummy food!! But do you think part of your puking was cos you drank too quickly? 9 drinks in like 4 hrs would be a lot for me. And my first puke in like over 10 yrs was when I drank too quickly... just a thought?
Hi Steph,
Sorry for the late reply. I asked my friend (he's actually the Director of Pharmacy at the hospital I work at) and he says that taking Gaviscon and drinking should not cause any dangerous effects, but said that alcohol intake should be kept at a moderate level. What he means by dangerous effects is that it doesn't have the same potential toxicity that occurs with Tylenol and alcohol. It's my understanding that since Gaviscon works by creating a "foam barrier" in the digestive track, excessive alcohol can break down this barrier, reducing the "anti-puking" effectiveness. I'm not sure 9 drinks in 4 hours could be considered "moderate". ;-)
dizzyhytes wrote:Hi sorry for the long delay but I have been testing the pepcid. I've done it about 4 times, but slightly inconsistently. I've taken 2 pepcid 20mg tablets before drinking but only twice did I take them at least 30-45 minutes before drinking, and without eating.
The times I took them without food and a reasonable period before, I was able to drink considerable amounts more than usual with nearly no flushing. First time I drank 4 glasses of sake in about 2 hours, followed by 2 large glasses for vodka/tonic. Was tipsy but no redness.
Second time I had dinner but didn't start drinking til at least 3 hours later. I took the pepcid 2.5 hours after eating, and was also able to drink lots of vodka. I got really drunk that night...it was great :)
The other two times I drank less than 10 minutes after taking the pills and once was right after eating. The flushing was still less than normal, but the side effects - headache, extreme sleepiness - came almost immediately. No shivering although I didn't really drink enough to tell.
Sweetpea, so far I would say the pepcid works quite well if you follow the rule of thumb: no eating and at least 30-45 mins before drinking. The other side effects are also dimished slightly when I follow these rules and only appear after 4 or 5 drinks. I still find that the headaches and sleepiness are quite bad especially if I don't follow them, so I will try and combine a tylenol with it and see if that works. I think it should.
Anyway, will post again as I continue the experiment....DZ
Hi dizzyhytes,
I would really advise against combining a tylenol and drinking. A really good friend of mine is a pharmacist and tells me that Tylenol (acetaminophen) is primarily absorbed into the body by the liver and really gives the liver a good workout. Alcohol also makes the liver work hard. combining the two is generally considered a bad idea. A quick Google search reveals several articles which talk about this:
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/medi … 9394.shtml
http://www.anosos.com/Content/Articles/ … t_mix.aspx
Not trying to preach, but rather just making sure we all enjoy life safely!
-S
Dimples25 wrote:Hi guys,
Its been awhile since i posted but i do read peoples posts regularly.
I have found eating and drinking bad combo for flushing, even with pepcid. Food inhibits the pepcid effectiveness i think.
Not eating, then taking the pepcid before drinking gives less flushing, i have no idea why...
My usual routine is this... eat, light... i even try to avoid dairy during the day because of someone elses post on here... Take some pepcid 40-60mg is sufficient, wait 30min-1hr then start drinking and take ur time with your first drink. after 2 drinks and ur not red u can slam them down hard... well i can... hahah
I have found when u have been drinking a few.. u can eat a bit and not really get red.. but yeah best to avoid food when u are drinking.
I do still get redish... but its more a tinged pink on my cheeks and around my eyes... ive said this before too... if u have a tan on ur face the pink looks good against tanned (yellow/tone tanned) skin. I was in europe in summer and was sooo brown and tanned. I drank like a fish with the pepcid and had like a healthy pink glow when i drink!
i noticed i do get a bit pale after i have had alot to drink... dont ask me why that happens... again a tan is good to mask that. its weird u can go bright red and then pale white!
I still have yet to try the ranitidie and clarintine combo some people say is effective too. But clarintine is expensive here is australia! while pepcid is cheapish... $20-30 here for 20mg 60 pack. Generic ebay stuff is just as effective as well. dont be afraid to buy off ebay... been totally legit stuff.
Hope this helps anyone!
I think you've hit it right on. I concur that eating simultaneously with the first drink decreases effectiveness. I can eat *after* a couple of drinks, but the most effective way to use this is to take the Pepcid on a [relatively] empty stomach and wait 45-90 minutes then drink the first couple slowly. After that you can pretty much do anything without redness.
I've tried the combination of Claritin (1) and Pepcid (2*20mg) and that works well.
-S
dougfunny wrote:Does more Pepcid AC work better?
I take 1 pill(20mg) and it works pretty good, leaving me a little flushed.
Does taking maybe 40mg work better than 20mg?
Hi dougfunny,
Based on other's posts, I can definitely say it varies by the individual. For me, Pepcid AC (20mg) works best only because I can take less pills than using the 10mg "regular strength" ones. For *me*, I find 60mg to have the best results. I feel that I have been doing experimentation over a very long period of time. I've paid attention to the time one should wait after taking the pills and before drinking. I've also looked at the effect of eating before, during, or after taking Pepcid.
p.s. I've recently tried using generic famotidine (20mg) vs. brand-name Pepdic AC. I have found the generic to be just as effective as Pepcid AC at a fraction of the cost. Specifically, at my local BJs Wholesale Club, 85 tablets of Pepcid AC is $29.95. Their generic famotidine is *two* bottles of 85 tablets for almost 25% the cost of Pepcid AC. Given the effectiveness, it's a no-brainer if you can get it.
glownomo wrote:hey, i'm just wondering if anyone has come across any long term risks that come with taking pepcid for an extended period of time. Say if you drink 3 nights a week and take 40mg each of those nights for a couple years or something... I take pepcid all the time now that I discovered it for my glow, but I'd just hate to find out a few years down the road that it has some really detrimental health effects. Thanks for the help!
Hi glownomo,
I've been using Pepcid for several years (I read Eric Cheng's original web journal) and have had no discernable ill effects. I usually don't drink anything during the week, but enjoy a few drinks on the weekends. For many, many years, I avoided drinking because of the "asian blush" symptoms. I had reactions I'm guessing as bad as anyone. My heart would race to very rapid beats, of course my face would be beat red, and I could actually hear the blood rushing in my ears!
Now, I can enjoy a few drinks on the weekend, even 3 nights and have done that several times. I've not seen anything that seems out of the ordinary. My hope is that someone in the research arena will take on a project to really study the short, medium and long-term effects of why famotidine blocks the ill effects of the "blush" and what the long-term side effects are.
-S
lan wrote:Hi everyone, I've read up to page 12 so far but haven't read anything like I experience (so apologize if it comes after page 12) and wonder if others have had similar experiences and also if the Pepcid worked for them. I use to drink pretty heavily in college (10 years ago) and had no problems other than the redness and a few other symptoms (high heart rate, chills, headaches), like everyone else. But then one time, I drank a lot and then ate right after, went home and went to take a nap and woke up with an incredibly high heart rate (higher than any run I've even been on and I monitor my heart rate all the time with my watch since I do marathons and triathlons. Anyway, I tried to walk and the more I walked, the higher and more intense the pain got. It was really scary and my friends convinced me to go to the ER. The doc at the ER said it was an allergic reaction; I knew that wasn't right. Anyway, after that, being a silly college student, I basically refused to give up drinking. So, I just learned what would set it (my heart) off and it was food. So I would have really early dinners (at least 4 hours before I was going to drink) before I'd go out and be fine. Anyway, now that I've gotten older, Im 33 now, I've found that my body is almost completely intolerant of alcohol. I dont drink now, I quit about 7 years ago because when I would drink, even without food, not only would my heart pound so hard and fast, but also my chest would feel like it was closing up and it was hard to breath well. My doc at the ER said my body would be "more sensitive" to alcohol from then on and he was completely right. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has or had such severe symptoms. I dont want to drink a whole bunch because my body obviously doesnt want me to drink, and I dont want to increase cancer risks, etc, but it would be SO nice to be able to have a glass of wine with dinner or what have you just once in a while. But am I ridiculous to even try again after the effects I've had?? I would love to hear from anyone. Thanks for reading!
landria
BTW, I'm half Japanese
Hi Lan,
I'm also of Japanese descent and have in the past experienced the extremely rapid heartrate. It was pretty scary. I've actually passed out twice! Like you, I completely stopped drinking and was scared to even try a half a beer for fear that I'd have another "reaction". What I can tell you is that after using the H2 blockers (almost exclusively Pepdic AC or generic famotidine), I've *never* had a bad reaction like that.
I've been using Pepcid before drinking for a couple of years now and have had excellent results. If I know that I'm going out to a social event, I alway take 2 or 3 Pepcid AC Max (20mg) about 45 minutes to an hour before drinking. I usally start slow with a beer and sort of let it "settle" before drinking my next drink. After that, I can usually drink all night with no problems, redness or other unwanted side effects.
For me personally, there are a couple of important things that work best when using this method:
1) Be patient. I've found that waiting at least 45 minutes after taking Pepcid is key. I take it with about 8 ounces of water.
2) Don't eat right away. For me, this seems to reduce the effectiveness. I'll eat *after* having the first drink, but not before.
3) Take your time with the first drink. Let your body react to the alcohol slowly.
4) At a certain point, the symptoms will come back if you really overrun your body with alcohol. If you start slamming drinks, it'll overtake the preventive blocking that Pepcid has. By this I mean really going overboard like doing *several* shots.
Hope that helps.
-S
Steph wrote:David wrote:well i give up. i took 4 pepcid AC pills, on an empty stomach, 2 hours before my first drink, and STILL had the same problems. oh well, maybe next time ill pop 10 pills!
im begginin to think its an allergy or sumit. maybe the pills just dont work for me.
i think ill just have to tolerate the embarassment of going red and forget about it. I still had a great night out despite looking like a freak in all the photos!
I'm sorry to hear that Pepcid didn't work for you. My last suggestion would be to try the Zantac+Claratyne combo (1 pill of each). Use the same method as Pepcid, but have Zantac+Claratyne instead.
Anybody else have any suggestions for David? We all know how liberating it is to be able to drink so let's give our mate David a hand! :)
I've tried using a combination of 1 Claritin (10 mg) + 2 Pepcid AC Max (20 mg each). That has worked well for me. The most Pepcid I've ever taken is 60 mg. I'm very concerned about taking more than that. I know you're probably just kidding about taking 10 pills(!), but I don't think that's a good idea. Don't give up just yet. I've been messing with the Pepcid method for a couple of years now and it still seems like I'm experimenting to find the "right" combination.
Good luck to you.
-S
Lindsey wrote:BIG question??
i have a neice who is 16 years old. I was watching her for the weekend while my sister and her husband left for a trip. She gets really red when she drinks because you know asian dads they let their kids take a sip. I let her go out with her friends and when she went out i found pepcid AC in her bag. Im concerned because she is young.
Is it safe for someone her age to be using this or no?
As I and others have said in previous posts, underage drinking is not something we generally condone or encourage. That said, we all know that it happens.
I don't believe anyone who has been participating in this forum is really in a position to speak definitively to the actual scientific/medical effects of this "experimentation" with Pepcid. My honest recommendation would be to be upfront with a family physician about it.
anff wrote:Hi i have just recieved pepcid AC 60 pack in the mail from the US.
I have noticed that they expire in this month, 01/07.
Is it bad to use these pills when they become expired? The container still has its seal intact.
Many experts believe that most medications will continue to be effective and safe for quite a while after the expiration date has passed. Clearly there is some "reasonable" limit to this (I'd say taking something that expired 5 years ago is potentially pushing the limits. My wife is a registered nurse (with a PhD in nursing research) who says that while it is illegal for healthcare professionals to administer medications past their expiration date, many believe that millions (billions?) of dollars worth of good medications are wasted every year. Clearly this is a boon to drug manufacturers.
My own personal recommendation is that you probably don't need to dump them out on once February hits. The common belief is that after a prolonged time, the meds may lose their effectiveness, however this probably doesn't happen immediately.
I also came across this article which makes many of the same points:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/he … 2392.story
Hope that helps.
-S
Crazykitkat22 wrote:Hey Steph,
How many pills do you usually take? I think one was just not enough for me. Have you ever tried the Zantac+Clarintine combo or any other kind of combo?
Seems like the common dosage is 2 or 3 tablets (20mg each). The Zantac-+Claritin combo has been met with mixed results. I've also tried using 1 tablet (10 mg) of Claritin (not Claritin-D) + 2 tablets of Pepcid AC. That also seems to work well.
-S
Tylerdurden1899 wrote:ok whew i just read all of the pages and replies over a two day period (just in my spare time), and i was very surprised that my condition was so wide spread. I'm 21 and am 100% korean, living in Orange County California. i knew i had the asian flush since i was 14 when i had my first beer. I turned just all out red, i'm talking a full on blood red. This has obviously completely eraditcated my want to drink, and i engaged in no drinking activity in high school or currently in college. I have found drugs to be more to my liking and have used quite a lot in the past. I've been cutting back drastically since June (last rave)
My dad has it but my mom doesn't so i knew it was genetic. what I didn't know was that it was genetic for 50% of asians (or from what i gathered).
So last night (8:30 PM) I decided to have a glass of red wine with my family. after eating a full meal I took the entire glass down in one gulp, i could feel the heat going down into my stomach and starting to just burn in there. I knew it was just a matter of minutes before i get full on beet red. And of course within about 4 minutes i felt the heat overcoming my face. I knew then that it was a matter of time before my entire face was consumed, which happened in another 3 minutes. So quick! God! I knew drinking as a social lubricant was something that i couldnt deny my self too long, using/abusing drugs habitually as just a means to relax and socially connect was risky both from the law and to my body. After reasearching google i came across this site pretty quick. I mean after reading only 3 pages i was blown away, so much more insight. From what i gathered lat night i figured out that Pecid AC MAX works the best so this afternoon i purchased a 65 pill bottle for $20 at my local Ride Aid. Hard to believe that i was actually going to cure this. I should have read more (about eating with pepcid AC)
Tonight
7:45 PM - took 3 20mg pepcid AC MAX pills. Did not drink too much water error, just enough to have it go down. (i didnt want to risk taking only one and not having it work and becoming disillusioned)
8:15 PM - ate a small pizza (full meal just like last night)
8:45 PM - waited til an hour passed after the pills had been taken, went and got the same amount of red wine as last night and took it down just in the same speed
8:45 PM - felt the same burn sensation in my stomach
8:50 PM - felt heat starting to creep up in my face, i thought crap it doesnt work, I looked in the mirror and Whoa! i'm not red, but i still feel so much heat on my face
8:55 PM - Slight red blemishes start appearing on my chins but still extremely low level of redness compared to last night or any other night, thought this is it, it works!
9:00 PM - still alot of heat on my face, and the red blemishes are still there and my face has a pink glow (still much much less than average)
9:05 PM - ate some dumplings (during which i feel an increase in heat on my face) looked at the mirror and damn i'm full on blood red all over my face again. DAMN!!! what happend! i thought maybe Pepcid only had delayed the effects.
9:45 PM - face less red than usually should be at only 1hour past drinking, perhpas it makes the redness dissapear faster as well.
9:50 PM - face still red but not at peak anymore. Read more on this website about the food and not eating afterwards or actually better to take it in empty stomach. and red wine makes face even more red. So i decided to take two shots of vodka just to test, what do you know i don't turn more red at all. just at that below max level. and my head isn't pulsing so much, still heat but not pulsing.
So i need to test even more.
empty stomach, 60mg, 1 hour and this time vodka.
It's nice to join this group after reading so much and the time span between them.
Kind of like reading a book and actually being able to talk to some of the characters near the middle.
Hi, it sounds like something you might want to try is slowing down with that first drink. I've found that to be effective. For some reason, it seems like the first drink is the important one. My routine is to take 40mg and wait about 45 minutes or so. I generally will go slowly with the first drink (usually a beer) and let it "settle in". After that, if I continue to drink at a "leisurely pace", say 2 or so drinks an hour, I can drink all night, with little to no redness.
However, if I go too fast, like doing several shots, the redness and rapid heartbeat will come back.
Hope that helps.
-S
I've tried the Claritin + Pepcid combination for a few weeks now. I've been using 1 tablet of Loratidine (10 mg) + 2 tablets of Famotidine (20 mg each). I've not seen a significan improvement over taking the Famotidine alone. I'll keep testing and post results.
Steph wrote:dougfunny wrote:Hey KMan...
What do you think about using Pepcid and Claritin/Claritine instead of the Zantac. I just read that patent link and it said that most of the peoples flushing came back after about 3-4 hours if they continued drinking. Maybe using Pepcid can let you drink for longer?
Hey Dougfunny,
I'm gonna give the Caritin/Zantac combo a go but I know that the Pepcid lasts the whole nite. Unfortunately I still suffer from a first drink flush if I drink it fast but after a very slow start, I can drink heavily(for me) - prob an average of around 4 drinks/hr. And I don't go red. This lasts at least 6-8 hrs. I haven't had a time where I've seen the effects of the Pepcid wear off.
I was wondering too about the 3-4 hr effectiveness of Claritin/Zantac. Can you just pop another couple of pills a few hours into the night to keep the flush away??
======
Angel, if you're still around - this new combo that we've been discussing will be good for you. No prescription required! In NZ Claritin is called Claratyne. Both this and Zantac are available OTC at the chemist :)
Steph:
I honestly think you're strategy is the most effective one. Slow on the first drink and let the first effects take their course. After the effects of the first drink subside, then I also can drink heavily for the rest of the night.
I do find sometimes that if I really overdo it with *a lot* of alochol in an extremely short period of time--for example doing shots, then it's still too much for the famotidine to handle. The old symptoms (flushing, heartbeat, etc.) will return. Slow and steady...that's the key!
Crimson wrote:dougfunny wrote:What is Claritine? Do yall mean Claritin? As in Claritin-D?
The one I use is called Clarityne D, and it might be sold under different names, depending on who the manufacturer is. I've also seen it sold as Claritinese.
The 'ingredient' to look for in the meds is Loratadine, so it doesn't really matter which one you get as long as it contains that. Just ask for an antihistamine that contains Loratadine. Clarityne D contains 5mg of Loratadine per tablet, so you'll need to take two of those to get the recommended 10mg dosage. Claritinese on the other hand contains 10mg of Loratadine per tablet, so you'd only need one of those. Be sure to check how much each tablet contains before you take it.
There is a difference between Claritin and Clartin-D. The latter contains a decongestant that "regular" Claritin doesn't have. Since most here are only after the Loratidine, I'd suggest going with the regular Clartin.
More at: http://claritin.com/content.aspx
-S
KMan wrote:Steph wrote:KMan wrote:ok just an update on my H1/H2 combi (further to my earlier post).
It works.
How many of each pill did you take and how long did you wait before drinking? Did you drink on an empty stomach?
I'm curious to see if it'll work for me too. Perhaps it can be something that we can alternate with Pepcid :)
I took one tablet each. I think that is 150mg of Ranitidine (zantac) and 10mg of Loratidine (Clarityne). From the studies I have read, they work in combo. I.e. taking either one would most likely not be effective on its own.
Based on the studies described in the pending patent that I referred to in one of my earlier posts, it is ideal to take it 30 mins or so before drinking, and the effects last about 3 hours on that dosage.
The tests done in the patent are also encouraging, it seems that all the subjects that tested the combo were successful.
I have tried the combo several times now and it works well for me.
Yikes, I just read the Pepcid - hair loss connection. Ok, I guess that's another plus for the Ranitidine-Loratidine combo, hehe. Dont know which is worse, bald or flushed..... Anyway, personally, i rotate between pepcid and the combo. Somehow, I feel like it is better that way.
Again, please, people, the studies do not show that the H1/H2 blockers necessarily lower acetaldehyde (results are unclear). So we are still poisoning your body as we flushers can't eliminte the acetaldehyde well. Acetaldehyde is a powerful carcinogen. So please don't take the pepcid or ranitidine/loratidine combo as a licence to act like we don't have the asian flush gene. You'll be seriously risking your health.
The only tested compound which I know of which clearly can lower Acetaldehyde is Cysteine. But delivery of Cysteine is difficult as it is unstable. Until a good method is found to deliver cysteine to the parts of our bodies which are brimming with Acetadehyde, we should be cautious with our drink. BTW, there is already a cysteine chewing gum which will lower oral concentrations of acetaldehyde. However, we need something else which can lower our serum, liver, and gut acetaldehyde levels.
Pepcid-Hair Loss???? I've not heard of this, but it may explain a few things. ;-)
I agree with you about the fact that we must be cognizant of the elevated levels of acetaldehyde. I do worry a bit about the adverse effects.
still skeptical wrote:Well Steph, I think your body does build a tolerance to it. I not sure why, but in order for it to work I definitely needed to up the dosage.....at one point 3 didn't cut it, then 5, then 7, now 10 is barely working. This is a bummer for me, but it also depends on physiology and tolerance to alcohol. I found out this works best for me: take 10 pills (200mg) 3-4 hours on an empty stomach, THEN eat and drink. Let the pills dissolve your stomach and do its magic in your intestines FIRST before it works on any other substance (food or alcohol). The result is a noticable, but not terrible, glow but disappears into a light pink for the rest of the evening. For best results....drink slowly! Let yourself get to the light pink stage before drinking more and when you feel and see that the initial glow phase is over, then drink as much as you want. And just to throw this out there: Asian girls who get the glow still look helluva lot better than Asian guys....we look f'd up! I'm sorry bro's....we definitely got the short end of the stick. Pepcid is not a cure, but it helps, I think it would be better if there were funding for some research on this, some cure or treatment to turn this mutated gene around. I think there will be in the future, but till then, we got to stick to what we've got. Oh yeah, Zantac 150 sucks! Didn't work for me (3 pills of 150mg), all it did was delay the redness....after an hour and 1 beer full on flush like I didn't take any pills at all. Guess it worked for kyle, more power to her. So Steph, didn't want to put you down, just giving you my experience... good luck!
I have noticed the tolerance thing too. That said, I've never gone past 60mg of famotidine. I am concerned about the huge doses that are well above what the instructions say.
I'm also with you on the Zantac. For me, it does *absoulely nothing*.
stedyedy wrote:Has anyone here tried the Claritine and pepcid combination ???????? I think i might give it a go an see what happens ...
I've tried it a couple of times. I had one Claritin (10mg) with two Pepcid AC Max (20 mg). It seems to produce the same results as Pepcid AC alone. I've not noticed a significant difference using the Claritin combination. Will continue experimenting.
Diggler5 wrote:I've noticed that drinking while sitting (like while watching TV or at a meal) will cause more blushing and side effects than drinking while standing and walking around. I supposed that more circulation from walking helped flush out the system, but its not a scientific theory. Anyone else have experience with the difference between sitting and standing?
I have noticed this as well. Last week I went out with some friends and we were dancing (first time in a long time). I had quite a bit to drink and after quite a bit of dancing, saw no redness. Of course maybe it was because I was having too much fun to be worried about it, but nobody said anything about me being red.
KMan wrote:HOLY GRAIL
Folks, I believe your miseries may be close to an end. I have stumbled upon a pending patent involving the combination of H1 and H2 blockers. I am not making representations on this. Just have a look yourselves.
http://www.freshpatents.com/Composition … escription
I guess we could wait for the product to come out?
Some unscrupulous people may however decide to apply the information for their own benefit though. Please be careful with mixing and experimenting with medications. I have no idea what Ranitidine plus Claritin would do to you.
All the best.
Wow, I read the whole thing (pretty long). It does sound like they are really onto something. I'd say if nothing else, this is the first time I've seen a reasonably organized scientific approach to studying a method to directly address "the blush". There have been numerous studies of the effects of acetaldehyde buildup due to the enzyme deficiency in asians, but not how to solve the issue. Basically just telling us what we've known all our lives. Thanks--for the obvious.
One thing I note in reading through the site is that although the subjects in the study combined the H1 and H2 blockers, they took the *recommended* dosages of each: 10 mg of loratidine (Claritin) and 150 mg of ranitidine (Zantac), both widely available over-the-counter. I've often wondered about the effects of taking doses greater than the recommendations of the H2 blockers alone.
Also, it seems that many on this site have had much better luck with famotidine (Pepcid) vs. ranitidine. I myself have tried using ranitidine alone (Zantac 150), with only mediocre results. I wonder if the combination of Claritin/Pepcid may yield more effective results. I have both, so I may give it a try.
As Steph said, we should be careful and be sure to post experiences.
ironmike wrote:I think I'm done with Pepcid. Since I found this forum about a month ago, my drinking has gone up so much. With the redness gone, I didn't realize my tolerance would go up, which I initially thought was a bonus. I used to have 3-4 beers, turn bright red and be finished for the night. Now with the pepcid, I can drink 4x that plus shots and wine and be semi-ok. I'm not a big guy, barely 5'7, anywhere b/t 122-130 lbs. Plus, I don't know how many of you are like this, but I can't drink on a full stomach. I always drink on an empty stomach, otherwise I feel like yakking immediately. My point is, I'm drinking all the time now. I've been drinking at work, which I never would have done in a million years before. I lost a girlfriend recently cause she said I've been drinking too much. If you can control your alcohol, that's great. I thought I could, but I've realized that I have to drink to excess. I drank 3 5ths of dewars (in a 1/2hr)yesterday and 9 beers overall. I miss days of work, and yesterday I walked into a tree. That sounds kind of funny, but It wasn't when it happened. I'm gonna try to go 1 week without 1 drink. I guess it's a blessing and a curse
Dude, that sounds like the right move. If you're drinking too much and it's affecting your normal life, then it's good lay off. I've also noticed that since I discovered using Pepcid that I've been drinking *WAY* more than I ever did in my whole life. I think I just might join you in chllin' on the drinking for a while. Not saying that I won't ever drink, but I am starting to worry about too much drinking. It's cool to chill out on the weekend, but missing work and walking into things without trying to be funny is totally another thing.
Interested to hear how things work out.
Omega Red wrote:take a road trip to Canada snuffy
Went there last summer. Your GST and PST were killin' me! ;-) Seriously though, had a good time in Canada and of course brought my Pepcid with me.
ironmike wrote:one thing i've noticed, I can drink 10x the amount I used to with the pepcid ac. Everyone I ask am i red, a little red, pinkish, turning red, they say no, you're pale as a ghost. I will still feel the hotness, though not as much. So I still get the slight heat sensation which I then assume I must be bright red right at that point, but I look at myself and not a trace. Even right now, I have that heat sensation, and my last drink was double shot of wild turkey at 5:30 am and its noon right now. The hangovers are still there but much more tolerable. Also, I could never handle tequila, rum and soju, now, no problems. On my bday Wed, 12 shots tequila, 10beers and maybe 1/2 bottle soju and I made it to work next day. I stunk like a brewery, but no redness whatsoever. The test yesterday was drinking a beer at work and not turning red. I might have to start bringing a flask to work (or hit some AA meetings)
Hey ironmike,
I've also noticed that as well. I can *definitely* drink more than I can taking pepcid first. That said, there's no way--taking Pepcid or not--I can drink as much as you state above. 12 shots of tequila and 10 beers, my ass would be laid out flat no doubt about it. I've had up to 8 shots and 6 beers spread out over a few hours and I was definitely feeling OK.
I also feel the "hotness" and it *feels* like my face is red, but people tell me that I'm not red. Strange, very strange.
Omega Red wrote:Well I told my doc my situation and that I had read in forums that pepcid works, so he prescriped 20 pills that just say "GEN-FAMOTIDINE 20 MG" on the label.
Best part about this is the pills were free!
Now that's what we can't do here in the U.S. It's definitely not free!
Steph wrote:Snuffy wrote:Question for the group: Has anyone have any experience/feedback on the effectiveness of using generic Famotidine vs. brand-name Pepcid AC? I use Pepcid AC Max (20mg), but see that the generic famo is significantly cheaper. I know that in most cases, the generic is *exactly* the same as the brand name as far as formulation goes.
Hey Snuff,
I first used Pepzan, which is NZ's equivalent to Pepcid (just a different name, I think. It was made by one of those big drug companies)
It worked exactly the same as the generic famo, as far as I could tell. I'm guessing (and only guessing) that its the amount of famotidine that you take that makes the difference (e.g. however many pills it takes to get your 10mg, 20mg, 60 mg of famo).
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After my night with my friend Absolut, I swear I'm not going to do that again... not without my famo pills! 9 shots of vodka in just over an hour wasn't good. Not too drunk but rather red and I could still smell and taste it the next day :/ Yuk.
OK, thanks Steph,
I think I might try the generic and see how it works. After reading about everyone's troubles finding this overseas, I now realize how lucky we are here in the U.S. You can literally get Pepcid or generic famo in *every* grocery store. I find it a bit strange that it's so readily available here just like toothpaste, but that you need a physician's precription abroad. Go figure.
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