H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid) (Page 20 of 52)

Hey there.  I'm not Australian (American-born Japanese).

I've noticed this as well, but sometimes I wonder if I'm actually not red or that I'm just less able to notice the redness after so many drinks.  Totally serious about that.  I've looked in the mirror and thought to myself that I was doing pretty good, only to have someone come up to me and say, "dude, your face is really red!"

Well, this is one for the chemists to cook up, but it's not impossible.  AD is an enzyme, just another protein in your body.  It has been purified a number of times, from plants and animals, and can be synthesized.  So, it's just a matter of getting some form of it into your bloodstream.  It's hard because most large proteins get digested when you take them orally, but there are ways around that (e.g. ingest an inactive precursor that is only active once it's metabolized).  Personally, I'm enraged that pharmaceutical companies haven't devoted all of their resources to curing The Flush.  After all, sure AIDS, cancer, heart disease kill millions, but they simply don't compare to getting f-up, turning maroon, and feeling like you just ran a damn marathon.  There's gotta be a nobel prize in curing the ails of millions of sober asians just trying to get wasted.

Hey Aussie Guy, NZ can't get Pepcid either - I'm getting mine through my doc. Its way cheaper and you get heaps (90 pills (20mg) for around $15). We used to have famotidine under the brand name of Pepzan but its no longer sold here.

In one of my earlier posts I suggested sites like vitaspring.com (I think) that do international delivery. They sell real Pepcid and not some dodgy no-brand stuff (I've never ordered from them tho). Ages ago I ordered some no-brand famo off some website that looked legit... the stuff came from India and half the blister packs were damaged and there was dirt in some of the sealed pill containers!! Yuks... I complained and got my money back tho so no stress there :)

Oh, and from my own experience, only famotidine works, the other H2 blockers like cinetidine or ramotidine or whatever they're called didn't work for me.

Lol... most people don't give a damn about the small % of us that have this. If anything, it'd be invented by someone who has this defect. :(

We can get Zantac (Ranitidine) over the counter but need prescriptions for the other H2 blockers.  Famotidine in Aust is sold as "Pepcidine" but is prescription only...so off to the doctor( i will tell the doc i have a bad bad ulcer!!!)

i only had like 2-4 drinks!!! of 5 or 7% drink.. umm it was archers!! .. i didnt have much n i was throwing up :(

it seems like the technology to treat this problem already exists.  it just needs some funding- are there any millionaire asians out there who are willing to invest in a potentially huge moneymaker?

At home I experimented with 2 Zantac's (after a big meal).

Waited and just mixed some cheap cuban rum with fresh watermelon juice.  Had 2 huge glasses with a decent amount of rum and felt fine.  No redness, just slight pinkish hue nobody would notice.

But yeah I sort of felt lightheaded a while after drinking but could be psychological as you said.

I think drinks like rum and coke and other mixed drinks are fine.

At a party this summer I had maybe only 5 big shots of absolut and a beer and pukerama.  No pink but the heartrate was racing......kinda got scared and after puking felt fine.

I'm gonna lay off of straight shots from now on.

Hey uriel,

Yeah, I started telling him about the condition - he was aware of it... and then I said that I found something that stops me from going red... famotidine. And he quickly said 'oh really?' and started writing out a script. He was completely fine with it. I asked if I need to be concerned about any side effects and he said 'no'. But - do ask your own doc for their opinion!! :)

I didn't ask about dosage or cancer risks. I don't take the pills v often so I thought that it wouldn't be much of an issue and he didn't say anything. I need a top-up on my script so I will let you guys know if he says anything else.

As for the 'better person' bit... I dunno about that. I just want to be straight-up with my doc and I trust him.

OmegaRed - did you take Zantac or Pepcid with your 5 shots of vodka? I find that I need to go slow on my 1st drink but afterwards I'm fine and can down the shots with the best of them ;)

But really what I want to be able to drink is wine... anyone have any tips on drinking wine and not going red?? I still go red from wine even if I take pills (I just go less red). Any other alcohol is fine...

With a quick search I found the following brand names for famotidine in Hong-Kong: Famopsin, Famox, Pepcidine, Pepzan, Quamatel, Ulceran
I don't know whether or not any of these are presecription only or not, but I'm sure Google can anser that quickly, too.
I found this website:
http://www.egeneralmedical.com/rxlist00000301.html
which lists all international major brand names for famotidine and the countries in which they're sold.  Again, you'd have to do individual searches to determine whether or not they're over-the-counter.

One thing I think we should stress here is that buying medicine and transporting it over borders is illegal in most countries and certainly is for the US.  I'm not taking any moral high ground here, not saying I would or wouldn't try too, but I think we should make point that clear.  At the very least, I would be careful.  One other point I've made earlier is that you won't get enough to last very long, so finding a legitimate source in your own country is still better.  Famotidine has a finite shelf life.  And transporting large quantities of anything illegally is going to increase your chances of serious punishment if caught.

Steph, thanks for note; let us know if you do hear anything else from your doctor.
I go red from wine, but famotidine (30min before, 20mg) definitely helps me.  But I do know that red wine is worse than white, so you might want to try going white-only.  I have friends who get a serious reaction to red wine, after only a half glass, not nearly enough for the alcohol to have an effect, and they end up vomiting.  I think it's because of some tannins (certain class of proteins) in red wine (but not in white) that either cause a reaction themselves or interact with the alcohol somehow.
There's definitely similar reactions with certain types of beer: dark beer, like Guiness, is worse than light, like Corona.  Also ales (which appear cloudy because of yeast products that are leftover from fermentation) are worse than lagers (which appear clear).  Dark liqueurs like Schnapps are worse than colorless alcohol, like gin and vodka.  I think these differences are also because of tannins or other compounds that are causing a reaction, either alone or by interacting with the alcohol.  Of course, everybody is different though, so there's not strict rule.
So I guess my advice would be to try famotidine with some very light white wines, like Chardonnay or some sweet Rieslings.  Avoid anything that has been aged in oak barrels, and go for sweet rather than "dry" or "acidic" tasting.  And avoid anything with high alcohol content (I think typical is like 12-13%).

an obvios tip perhaps is to drink slowly, even if youre the last one with drink in your glass. it definitely makes a difference whether you take 5 minutes to take a glass or 5 secs.

Hi, I am 26, 27 in 9 days, been drinking hard since 20. I can drink usually 8-10 beers + shots, wine, etc. on avg. After even the first 1/4 beer though,  I would turn bright cherry red, like alot of ppl here. I heard about the pepcid ac before drinking but never tried it. I skipped work today just to see if there was anything behind this. By the way,  I am 100% Korean and maybe 3 of my Korean friends would turn bright red like me and maybe 4 wouldn't. I took 1 max strength pep ac at 2:45, started drinking at 4.  I had 8 Coronas, 1 pint of Guiness, 1 pabst,  4 shots of Jamison and 3 shots of Jager. I would normally be passed out and only drink this much on a fri,  sat, but right now I have slight headache/buzz and NO redness. I don't know the long term effects b/c I take some anti-anxiety things, but the test is if I wake up with a hangover tomorrow. The only thing was, after the first 4 beers I didn't feel like yakking, but the foamminess of the beer came up. I am in my opinion, as drunk as 3-4 beers with 1 shot. I don't know why I am typing this but the red face is embarrasing and this pep ac could be the cure. Whether bad or good,  I think this is the cure all. Just had to share my experiences with everyone.  I spent an hour reading all experiences online yesterday and I truly believe this works. Good luck!