H2 Blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid) (Page 28 of 52)

Thank you Mr. Cheng for making this site, as you probably already know it has helped many, many people to lubricate their social life. I start turning pink after about 1/2 of a beer. When I was younger I would take a few sips and I would turn into a tomato. For me, taking Pepcid will just make the coloration more subtle, but it helps with the mental distraction I have about turning red.

Personally, I think all of us on this site should not drink than more than a few times a week... our genetic makeup is simply not cut out for it. Regardless, we all get the itch to let loose every once and again. I sometimes just push it too far and have like 10 beers, I feel happy for a few hours, but when I have that much I almost always end up throwing up in the middle of the night. =[ I think when just drinking at home, drinking w/out the pepcid is probably the more healthy route. I hope everyone well on their drinking ventures.

I haven't tried Claritin, but it makes sense that it would work because these redness reactions are similiar to histamine reactions. Has anyone tried Pepcid + Claritin?

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!

ohh.. i think i might be a homozygotes which really sucks.. i end up vomiting after da 2-3rd bottle.. i tryed drinking 1 5% drink n i felt sooo unwell.. like i wanted to vomit.. and i do after a another on.. i tryed the zantac + claratyne combo.. with red wine because that was the only thing we had and it tasted soo yuk!!! but anyways i drank probly half a glass and i was pink after 20-30mins .. surprising i wasnt as red and i usually would turn which is red red red red everywhere especially on my face.. i just had really pink cheeks.. which would be all good at a darkish party.. maybe i should try with another drink which i will enjoy?? or what?? do you think that the 1st glass would make me pink but after it will be fine??? can anyone with the same gene help me out lol

Just had a fun night of drinking with some good friends!!! Didnt think about the dreaded reds 1 time tonight, yay! <3

Hey KMan

merry christmas to you too and hapy new years :P

just wondering does the pinkness fade after a while or what?? i still feel a slight minor thumping to my head and stuffy breathing but not as much... does this happen to you?? or anyone?

Hey KMan,

Any idea where to get pepcid or similiar here in Singapore and is it available off the counter?

Redbul:

Yes. All the products mentioned in this forum are available at the pharmacy. However, you have to get it from the registered pharmacists (not all pharmacists have one in attendance). Instead of Pepcid, u may have to ask for the generic Famotidine because they don't carry the brand name "Pepcid" here. And if you are going for the Zantac Claritine combi, note that Zantac is Ranitidine and Claritine is Loartidine. I would not get the Zantac brand Ranitidie as it costs a bomb. Ask for the generic brands, they are much cheaper.

Sweetpea and Jeebus:

Please keep in mind that the meds we are discussing here are not shown to drastically reduce acetaldehyde in our blood. From the research thus far available, my guess is that it merely MASKS the EFFECTS of the acetaldehyde as opposed to cleaning up the acetaldehyde itself. Now there is ample research to show that acetaldehyde is highly toxic and carcinogenic. It's also been linked to cell and blood vessel damage. There is NO evidence to show that the H1/H2 blockers actually help prevent this aspect of acetaldehyde damage. So I am not surprised that sometimes our bodies still react negatively or signal us to stop.

The heartthumping is likely due to vasodilation, I believe. Most likely, so is the warm feeling in the face. When we drink, our vessels dilate and expand. This causes our blood pressure to drop. Our heart therefore has to pump harder to maintain our blood supply. I find that taking the meds helps with my own heart thumping. Perhaps being embarrassed about being bright red causes my heart to beat harder so when I don't turn red, I notice a difference in the thumping!

In any case, I repeat my mantra.... please moderate or minimise your drinking even if the meds are working for you.

Cheers!

I think the jury is still out on Cheerz. The research is not convincing and many posters in this forum say they still go red with it, i.e. the Acetaldehyde is still there.

I have posted earlier about a Cysteine. However, there are a whole other set of issues about delivering Cysteine to target acetaldehyde. I believe there is a focused discussion on that itself. There are some pending patents for a kind of slow release cysteine combined with some other chemicals. For now, I would suggest not trying to push yourself.

I don't know if you will push up your "tolerance", but think about it this way... Acetaldehyde is poisonous. Does it make sense to drink more and more of a poison to try to increase your "tolerance" to the poison? In the process, you will be seriously poisoning yourself.

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.

When I drink just a couple sips of alcohol I get bright red like a tomato. So last night, I tried taking Pepcid AC because my sister told me about.  I only took one pill like half hour before I started to drink.  I got bright red like usual after a few sips of beer.  Is the Pepcid not working because I'm not taking enough of it? Is Pepcid better by it self or better to take it with like Claritin or another med? Please help!!!  I'm so embarrassed when this happens all the time.

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