• Registered: 2007-05-30
  • Posts: 1

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Hi everyone,

I just stumbled across this forum recently.  Thank goodness!  I get asian flush badly.  I am 5'5", 120 lbs, female, asian.  I usually begin to get rosy after one drink.  Any drinks after that, I end up looking like I've been dropped in boiling water.  Additionally when I have more than 2-3 drinks, I normally get these symptoms:

- elevated heartbeat(which I can feel pulsing in my head)
- bloodshot eyes
- itchiness usually on my arms and legs
- fatigue, tiredness
- cold chills

When I have these symptoms, I'm usually a bit tipsy but not hammered.  I just look like I am, even though I can still control myself and carry on a conversation without looking like an idiot.

I bought some Pepcid AC 20 mg.  I just read the package and it says "DO NOT take more than 1 pill at a time".  What do you guys suggest for me?  I'm going on vacation and plan on drinking.  I have fun doing it, I just don't like the world knowing that I'm tipsy/drunk/been drinking.  How long should the effects last?

Thanks in advance!!

  • Registered: 2006-05-07
  • Posts: 46

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

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". ;-)

  • Registered: 2006-12-11
  • Posts: 11

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

this place is absolutely dead...Is the pepcid working for everyone?

  • Registered: 2007-06-14
  • Posts: 2

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Steph wrote:

The general concensus here has been to:

* Not eat too much the hours leading up to your drinking -- your stomach should be pretty much empty or almost empty
* Take the pills -- I'd take 2x20mg (or 4x10mg) pills for your first time
* Have a big glass of water
* Wait at least an hour before your 1st drink
* Drink your 1st drink slowly
* Enjoy the rest of your evening!


Good luck :)

i tried this for the first time tonight.  i took 40mg of pepcid.  im 5'6-7'' 140 lbs.

i didn't try this on an empty stomach.  had a protein shake about an hour before.
i did not take a big glass of water with pepcid.
waited 45 minutes, before my first drink.  took about 18oz in about 45 minutes proceeding the first drink.

still got red.  according to your general consensus, i did alot of things wrong.  i took another pill 30 minutes after the first drink and 2nd pill 45 minutes after the first drink.  the pulsating in the head calmed down and the redness seemingly got lighter, however, im color blind with the color red so i have difficulty seeing the redness at all.  this could be due, however, to the fact that after i have had a few drinks, the bright red goes away.  the more i drink the more it goes away.  bright red = sober, no redness = drunk.  the problem is i don't want to get flat out drunk everytime i drink. 

do you think i should up the dosage for the next time to perhaps 80mg?  going to rehab in vegas this weekend and i would prefer not to have my whole body red.

805 Reply by Steph

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Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Blind121 wrote:

i tried this for the first time tonight.  i took 40mg of pepcid.  im 5'6-7'' 140 lbs.

i didn't try this on an empty stomach.  had a protein shake about an hour before.
i did not take a big glass of water with pepcid.
waited 45 minutes, before my first drink.  took about 18oz in about 45 minutes proceeding the first drink.

still got red.  according to your general consensus, i did alot of things wrong.  i took another pill 30 minutes after the first drink and 2nd pill 45 minutes after the first drink.  the pulsating in the head calmed down and the redness seemingly got lighter, however, im color blind with the color red so i have difficulty seeing the redness at all.  this could be due, however, to the fact that after i have had a few drinks, the bright red goes away.  the more i drink the more it goes away.  bright red = sober, no redness = drunk.  the problem is i don't want to get flat out drunk everytime i drink. 

do you think i should up the dosage for the next time to perhaps 80mg?  going to rehab in vegas this weekend and i would prefer not to have my whole body red.

Hi Blind121!


I usually wait 1.5-2hrs before my first drink and then I drink the 1st one so slowly it's painful. But that is the only way that I've discovered to minimise the redness.

I usually have a bit of food with my drinks just because it's normally over a nice meal or something. But I do try and eat lightly.

And also, try not to worry about it cos I'm sure that when I worry about being red, I get even redder..... :(

What I would recommend, is to follow our method as above and start your evening really really slowly. Stick with the 40mg. See how that goes.

If you still have no joy, then maybe try taking ONE extra pill.

  • Registered: 2007-06-18
  • Posts: 6

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Alright, I'm 17 years olds, male, asian, about 5'8 145ish lbs. Yes I know I'm not supposed to drink. Anyways, a couple of days ago I went to a K-bar (karoake) with some friends. This was my first time drinking so much. in the past, I drank maybe 2-3 gulps of budweiser and my face starts to burn. Anyways, back on topic, so we were playing dice games and I kept losing, so I had a couple of shots of Red Wine mixed with a little bit of smirnoff (maybe 6 shots?). I also drank one entire bottle of corona and another smirnoff. I was feeling the intense heat all over my face. I was sweating like a bitch, then started to turn all red all over my body. It wasnt itchy at first. Later, i felt drunk knowing it was my first time. and threw up maybe twice. I had the shittiest headache and i wasn't able to sleep. I also felt cold, chilly or w/e, and I took a tylenol to help ease the pain. When I woke up, my WHOLE body was itching, there were spots(red and white) all over my body and I started to get scared because I thought it could be an allergic reaction to the alcohol. upon reading the posts in this forum (which was very helpful), I realized that I'm a victim of the asian flush :[ . I havent tried Pepcid AC or anything yet, but I'll really like to drink in the future. So I have a coupla questions, and please answer ! :

1. Is it possible to build a tolerance to the alcohol? Can your body get used to the alcohol?
2. Does the damn itchiness ever stop? it's been 48 hours ...
3. is it possible that to become sort of immune to the symptoms without taking the pepcid?
and for those who has the itchiness/hives problem, if you consistently drink or TRAIN your body to the alcohol, will the hives problem go away? what about the alcohol tolerance? will drinking daily or weekly help you take in more alcohol?

thanks in advance guys!
-kc

807 Reply by Steph

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Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

system wrote:

1. Is it possible to build a tolerance to the alcohol? Can your body get used to the alcohol?

From what I've seen here and my own experience... no, not really. That really sux I know.
I've increased my 'tolerance' from 1/4 a drink to about 1/2 a drink. Whoopdee-flippin-do
Some people may have better results than me, I think it all depends on how bad your flush is in the first place.

system wrote:

2. Does the damn itchiness ever stop? it's been 48 hours ...

That's not good... drink lots and lots of water. Flush the alcohol out of your system.
I think you drank too much, too quickly
Perhaps have an antihistimine? Ask your local pharmacist.

system wrote:

3. is it possible that to become sort of immune to the symptoms without taking the pepcid?
and for those who has the itchiness/hives problem, if you consistently drink or TRAIN your body to the alcohol, will the hives problem go away? what about the alcohol tolerance? will drinking daily or weekly help you take in more alcohol?

ok. I wouldn't advise in making a habit of drinking daily.
I have tried 'training' my body  (see answer 1) but it didn't really work so this is something that we have to live with.

As to your hives, drink slower to start off with and try taking a Pepcid.
But please be sensible. Take no more pills than written on the box.

808 Reply by mew

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  • Registered: 2007-06-21
  • Posts: 1

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Has anyone tried Pepcid AC in combination with chronic and alcohol???

  • Registered: 2007-06-14
  • Posts: 2

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

thanks for the information, i switched it up and tried 80mgs all weekend.  didn't turn red, got light pink for 5 minutes or so.  tried 60mgs and turned light pink for a bit longer.

  • Registered: 2007-06-24
  • Posts: 3

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

hey everyone, great information!

i read about those living in australia, but what about japan? is there a pepcid equivalent we can get here?

i went into a pharmacy the other day, tried explaining with my limited japanese what pepcid was and if they had it, and they kept assuming it was a prescription drug. from the looks of it here, you DO need a prescription to get heartburn medication in japan (yeah?).

anyway, any help would be great!

do they sell zantac or famo in japan? thanks all

  • Registered: 2007-06-24
  • Posts: 3

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

unfortunately it doesn't seem people here are too active anymore, but i guess thats because we all know pepcid works pretty damn well

for those in japan, after some searching and the like, i found that "gaster 10" is a thing like pepcid, with 10 mg of famo. i took two, 30 minutes later i started my first beer (spent 30 minutes on it) and i only got pink, no thumping in the face and things like that. good stuff.

if anyone knows of other famo meds, like gaster 10 in japan, i'd like to know!

thanks

  • From: Melbourne aus
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 6

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Hey all just come across this site (I know where have I been) but it does seem nobody seems to come on anymore reading through most this post and it ws all from last year anyhow makes me wanna try this pecid stuff. Just curious to know though most people seem to post the experiences with pecid through only having one or two beers and turning a little pink, I was more intrested in how it helps if you want to have a night out usually means 6 to 12 beers for me. Anyway I'm a kiwi/asian guy living in melbourne and very intrested in meeting new people give me a buzz if anyone from melbourne is intrested we could maybe go out I've never had a lot of asian freinds so would be good to mingle with fellow asians

813 Reply by Steph

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Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

kiwiguy25 wrote:

Hey all just come across this site (I know where have I been) but it does seem nobody seems to come on anymore reading through most this post and it ws all from last year anyhow makes me wanna try this pecid stuff. Just curious to know though most people seem to post the experiences with pecid through only having one or two beers and turning a little pink, I was more intrested in how it helps if you want to have a night out usually means 6 to 12 beers for me.

Hey there,
yeah it seems like people find the answers they're looking for, then bugger off! Hopefully I'm not the only regular still lurking around here :)

I think that most of us find that pepcid does help with a big night out. I know that without the pills I'm done for the night after 2 drinks :/
But with the pills my heart and face feel almost normal and I can drink a lot more (ie 6-15 drinks), it's just that I have to start slowly.

  • From: Melbourne aus
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 6

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Hows it going steph seems like you are the only regular one left I'm even suprised you'll still around.
Are you still a regular drinker these days? I see you're a kiwi as well, what part of Nz you from? I've just got a packet of pepcid and will try it out sometime and will let ya know.

  • Registered: 2007-07-02
  • Posts: 2

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Hey everyone,
Ahhhh it's so nice to know that there are tons out there with the same damn' problem...not all Asians lack this enzyme though (I get so jealous when my Asian friend drinks and is completely fine whereas I'm having trouble breathing and look like I'm on fire). Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knows how much Pepcid you should take? I'm 5'0'' and 96 lbs and wanna take the right amount so I don't get red, but of course, I don't wanna overdose. Anyone around the same size and knows how much to take??? Thanks!!!!!!!

  • From: Australia
  • Registered: 2006-08-15
  • Posts: 47

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Hi L darling....

take 40 mg an hour before drinking. U should be aok... Try to eat light before u take the tablets or avoid eating all together.

Hey Steph, im still here... I just come on these days to read the comments these other poor people like us have to say! Everytime i drink i just wish i was normal!

How is pepcid for me?? all ok people! I know everyone seems to have upped the dosage and i do feel 60 mg is better than 40 mg... but i dont want to work up a tolerance to pepcid. So i do 40mg and drink pretty slowly my first drink and then wait till the red subsides a bit... then i'll drink more!

havent tired the loratidine and clarytine combo... I frgot how much u are supposed to take again! 20mg of each??? i dont know.. someone please refresh my memory.

Maybe Steph you should set up a separate topic "Instructions for taking pepcid: how much u need and tips for a good night out!" hehehe or "EBAY: the way to get famo"

Im going to start trying to drink a glass of wine each nite to at least try to work up a tolerance. Cause i feel if normal people can drink and work up a tolerance to alcohol then we can too. For sure it will be harder for us... but in your own private place its not so bad if u turn red a bit... and Boy do i turn red! but i think doing something like this will increase pepcid effectivenes and we do not need to relyon it so much.

i mean my uncle turns red when he drinks... but he has a beer each nite and i think his red isnt that bad.... like it looks ok. So obviously hes worked up a tolerance. Dont lose hope people. We can beat this thing...

Of course im sure there is a brillaint geekazoid asain biochemist who suffers the same problem as us. That person WILL find that cure for us.... well eventually.... he'd be an instant millionaire!  where is this person???!! cmon geezy asain students! u must know someone who dabbles in this field of enzymes!

  • Registered: 2007-07-02
  • Posts: 2

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Thanks Dimples25! I'll try it tomorrow on the 4th! :D

Oh and I bet there won't be a cure for this anytime soon...there are much more important (unfortunately) things out there they're looking for a cure for and helping Asians look normal when they get wasted ain't one of them :'(

818 Reply by jasko

  • Registered: 2006-05-05
  • Posts: 70

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

so I'm talking to this girl now that I like, a lot, and she's a party girl.
I haven't told her about my condition.... and I'm kind of scared/embarrassed to.
I dunno what to do. :(

  • Registered: 2007-06-24
  • Posts: 3

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

what do you guys do in the case of a dinner party with drinks?

do you need to tell her your "condition," jasko?

820 Reply by Steph

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Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Jasko, if she's a cool girl and is a good friend, you should be able to tell her and she'd understand. But in saying that, only my closest of buddies know about this 'effect' and I too am wary of who I tell. But at least now I can say that I have this condition but it can be lessened with some medicine.

If this is someone you want to party with, then it may be easier to tell her eventually... it would explain why you don't eat much and drink slowly at the start of the night! :)


8se7en: dinner parties... this becomes more of the case when you get older, not just going out for drinks only! Just eat slowly, eat lightly. Lots of leafy veggies and chicken. Not too much potato/rice/pasta or red meat

The claratyne/zantac combo: I read somewhere here to take 1 pill of each. I've tried it and it's been ok.

Good to see I'm not the only regular still here... it would be great if yaz would give your 2c worth too :D

  • From: Melbourne aus
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 6

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

Still havn't tried any of my pepcid yet but have drank thursday friday and saturday this week, 6 beers thursday got the flushing, friday 8 beers flushing to begin with but eventually went away and on saturday I had 14 beers over the course of the night had a initial flush but went away as I drank more. So i'm finding the more i drink the less the smytoms become, wierd will try out 20mg of pepcid sometime and see how we go.

  • From: Australia
  • Registered: 2006-08-15
  • Posts: 47

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

kiwiguy25 wrote:

Still havn't tried any of my pepcid yet but have drank thursday friday and saturday this week, 6 beers thursday got the flushing, friday 8 beers flushing to begin with but eventually went away and on saturday I had 14 beers over the course of the night had a initial flush but went away as I drank more. So i'm finding the more i drink the less the smytoms become, wierd will try out 20mg of pepcid sometime and see how we go.

this happens to me as well... the more i drink with no pepcid the less red i become... but then i get really pale later. Did u notice this?

  • From: Melbourne aus
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 6

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

yeah I am more pale in the mourning after I wake up I've noticed, The pepcid sounds very promising I think I'll just use it on occasions though I do drink alot but can put up with the flush with the predrinking method. Searching around the internet Seems like the pepcid discovery has only been mainstream for the last few years so hopefuly now there will be people out there looking at comming up with a better cure.

  • Registered: 2007-07-12
  • Posts: 2

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

hey,
im part japanese, italian, and english. i get the asian glow thing to and i find it pretty embarassing. im gonna try the pepid ac thing but im about 5'1, 110 lbs....how much of this stuff should i be taking to get good results?

  • Registered: 2007-07-12
  • Posts: 2

Re: H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)

ps- what kind of pepcid ac should i buy and works best, im form canada by the way