PlumPrincess Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 (edited) For your information, I'm Asian. I went out with a friend of mine yesterday and we had some cocktails. I had one Caipirinha and we shared two other cocktails. I got more drunk than I had expected, but it was still within a reasonable limit, meaning I was talking a lot of nonsense, found myself highly irresistibly entertaining, and would have had some trouble walking a straight line, but I wasn't throwing up or anything. So, this was like 9 hours ago. I was about to hop into the shower, when I noticed that my belly above my belly button is red with a lot of big white spots. It does not look nice... It doesn't itch or anything, the skin is smooth, no wheals, just this funny discoloration. I don't feel sick or anything, not even a hangover (actually, I have no clue how a hangover feels, because I have never got one as far as now). I usually don't drink - I don't like the taste of alcohol, I'm not a fan of regular use of mind altering substances in general, and I believe you should be able to have fun without having to resort to alcohol - so I have been rarely drunk in my life, but occasionally I was and I never really had that much problems with it (I don't seem to be able to drink as much as other people though, but I also weigh 106 pounds and if I really drink a lot, I end up throwing up, but like a lot of other people, I guess). I've heard most Asians don't take alcohol so well though, I'm wondering if this could be one of the symptoms? I know that other symptoms include "dizziness, nausea, headaches, an increased pulse, occasional extreme drowsiness, and occasional skin swelling and itchiness." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_flush_reaction (Yes, I know, people on this forums are not able to provide medical advice, but I don't feel sick and I won't go to a doctor, I'm just curious.) Edited January 13, 2008 by PlumPrincess Link to post Share on other sites
Tony T Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 I don't think the white spots on your stomach are related to your drinking. Alcohol would not usually cause this type of allergic reaction. White spots on the stomach accompanied by other irritation can be caused by a number of other things, from allergic reaction to clothing material to other dermatological anomalies. It doesn't sound serious, though. If after a few days you feel physically ill, you should go to a doctor. Meanwhile, a pharmacist can recommend some ointment for you that's likely to take care of it. I would start with a light application of Neosporin, which can be obtained in any drug store and is not expensive. If you have an allergy, it won't do a thing. But if it's an infection, it could be helpful given your unwillingness to seek the help of a competent, licensed medical professional. Link to post Share on other sites
blind_otter Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 My mom is vietnamese and is highly allergic to alcohol. She swells up and turns purple and has to have a shot to get stabilized. That's all I know. Link to post Share on other sites
jerbear Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 The Asian glow as they say it. What I suggest is to goto the doctor and find out if it is the alcohol. Also if you get hives, bumps, irritations, etc... then time to goto a doctor. Link to post Share on other sites
Author PlumPrincess Posted January 19, 2008 Author Share Posted January 19, 2008 Ok, update. The redness has faded, but it's still somewhat visible. Probably won't have any more drinks in the near future, but if it happens again I will go and see a doctor. I was a bit too busy this week and it didn't hurt, itch or anything, so I let it slip this time. Link to post Share on other sites
Letranger Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 That's good news Plum! I had a girlfriend that was Asian and she had issues when she drank as well. So we never went drinking, which was fine by me! Link to post Share on other sites
Author PlumPrincess Posted January 19, 2008 Author Share Posted January 19, 2008 That's good news Plum! I had a girlfriend that was Asian and she had issues when she drank as well. So we never went drinking, which was fine by me! I prefer to have choices though... It's a good thing that it's at least not that much important to me and that the effect was not worse. Link to post Share on other sites
Letranger Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I prefer to have choices though... It's a good thing that it's at least not that much important to me and that the effect was not worse. What about alcohol in food, like a bourbon sauce or liquor chocolate? Or maybe you can drink wine, but not scotch? Let me contact my asian ex and see if she noticed any differences. What choices are you looking for exactly? Link to post Share on other sites
sb129 Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I think they have isolated the gene that Asians either have (or don;t can't remember the specific details) that means they don't process alcohol as well as caucasians, hence the asian glow. There is a scientific explanation, sorry I am being so vague. Look it up. Link to post Share on other sites
corazoncito Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 (edited) I am half-Chinese and turn very red when I have even a little alcohol. My mom (the Chinese parent) is the same way. I have a half-Korean friend who gave up alcohol altogether because she also turns red and gets really embarrassed by it. The red is all over my face, chest and belly. Sometimes it's kind of blotchy, which makes it look like I have lighter spots, especially on my belly, sometimes my chest. Most asians I know have this problem to different degrees. Edited January 19, 2008 by corazoncito Link to post Share on other sites
CraigAllen Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Well, you learn something every day. I had no idea this happenned. Link to post Share on other sites
Author PlumPrincess Posted January 19, 2008 Author Share Posted January 19, 2008 What about alcohol in food, like a bourbon sauce or liquor chocolate? Or maybe you can drink wine, but not scotch? Let me contact my asian ex and see if she noticed any differences. What choices are you looking for exactly? Ah, no, I was just meaning in general. I just like to have the choice and be able to decide if I want to drink or not and now it looks that it might be better not to drink too much. Link to post Share on other sites
Author PlumPrincess Posted January 19, 2008 Author Share Posted January 19, 2008 I am half-Chinese and turn very red when I have even a little alcohol. My mom (the Chinese parent) is the same way. I have a half-Korean friend who gave up alcohol altogether because she also turns red and gets really embarrassed by it. The red is all over my face, chest and belly. Sometimes it's kind of blotchy, which makes it look like I have lighter spots, especially on my belly, sometimes my chest. Most asians I know have this problem to different degrees. That does sound like what I have. My belly above my belly button and my chest were red with white spots. I don't turn red in my face though. I think my tolerance for alcohol varies and that's why I had not been aware that I might have the same problem with alocohol as other Asians do. Actually I remember about five years ago I had less than two glasses of gin and mango juice and I was sick after that. I "skipped" the fun part and moved over to the sick part immediately, which resulted in me lying in bed for a couple of days, hardly able to move and feeling as if I was going to die. *rolleyes* It was so bad that I swore never to drink again or not too much. It's weird that I never thought that it had something to do with me being Asian, I knew about the problem with the enzymes, but somehow I thought I had just drunk too much. Link to post Share on other sites
82knightrider Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 :eek:just dont be an asian drunk driver. Link to post Share on other sites
Trialbyfire Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 I've got a few asian friends and they always "flame on" when drinking, with some variable blotchiness. I wouldn't worry about it, as long as you don't end up with serious allergic reactions. Link to post Share on other sites
yumi Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I am half asian too (my mother is Japanese, and my father is Swedish). I look more asian than Swedish, and everyone thinks of me as an asian person. Anyway, I also become red if I drink alcohol, and I get drunk quickly so after I tried it a few times I stopped drinking alcohol completely. I think it's good because there are many drunks in my city and now I can be sure that I will never become one of them. Link to post Share on other sites
crazy_grl Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 A friend I used to have who was Asian started getting bright, tomato red splotches all over once after she drank tequila. It was weird to see it spreading over her arms. I've never seen that before. She could drink quite a bit but said that would occasionally happen with tequila. It may have been caused by the type of alcohol you drank. Link to post Share on other sites
Author PlumPrincess Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Thank you all for your replies. They were interesting as though I'm Asian I do not know that many other Asians. Link to post Share on other sites
82knightrider Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 You should move to my town.Theres nuthin but asians lol Link to post Share on other sites
lbj123 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I am not Asian, however, I tend to get red, blotchy, itchy, etc. when I drink. A couple of years ago, I was out drinking with coworkers when an Asian guy I work with said to me "You've got the Asian reds". He explained that some people, Asians especially, have allergic reactions to alcohol. He recommended that before drinking, I take a Pepcid AC (its a heartburn/indigestion OTC med). Everytime I take it before a night of drinking, my redness is severely reduced! I have no idea how or why it works, but it really does help! Link to post Share on other sites
blackbird Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Heh, I'm Korean and drinking is very much part of the culture in Korea - everyone drinks, a lot! (I live in the States, moved to the US as a kid.) Everyone drinks, some writer once described Koreans as the "Irish of the Far East". That said, I do get flushed when I've been drinking as well, but just a pink glow on my cheeks. My dad and my sister gets it too. Makes blusher redundant! Link to post Share on other sites
crosswordfiend Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 He recommended that before drinking, I take a Pepcid AC (its a heartburn/indigestion OTC med). Everytime I take it before a night of drinking, my redness is severely reduced! I have no idea how or why it works, but it really does help! I didn't want to mention this at first since the OPs symptoms sounded more severe than the typical alcohol flush response, but Pepcid AC does have an effect. I asked a friend who is a pharmacologist and he said that alcohol is metabolized into acetylaldehyde which in turn is metabolized in acetic acid. It's the build up of acetylaldehyde that is toxic and which causes the flush response, presumably because of an overexpression of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol quicker than normal. Taking an OTC heartburn med before drinking probably suppresses this enzyme and slows down the conversion of alcohol into alcetyaldehyde. Just a hypothesis, but it sounds plausible to me. Link to post Share on other sites
GeorgiaSongbird Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Heh, I'm Korean and drinking is very much part of the culture in Korea - everyone drinks, a lot! (I live in the States, moved to the US as a kid.) Everyone drinks, some writer once described Koreans as the "Irish of the Far East". That said, I do get flushed when I've been drinking as well, but just a pink glow on my cheeks. My dad and my sister gets it too. Makes blusher redundant! I laughed at this because it's true! My dad is Korean and he has a very, very severe reaction to it, so he doesn't drink at all. And he says everyone else around him used to drink like fish. My brothers and I are all mixed and we have a varying degree of his allergy. One brother turns really, really bright red in the face. I only looked flushed, the flush gets a little more pronounced if I keep drinking, but it's never as bad as my brothers. Lucky for my mom, because she never had to worry about us drinking when we were teenagers. Link to post Share on other sites
annieo Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 I'm from northern european stock and I also get flushed when drinking. As I've gotten older, it has (unfortunately) gone from being a healthy glow to splotchy redness, which starts on the right cheek, then migrates to the left. And then eventually disappears as the night wears on. The more uptight/stressed/excited I am, the worse the redness (e.g., I go really red really fast in social situations where I am among superiors from work, less so amongst friends, family). Considering my genetics (Ukrainian, German) I am pretty sure I have the digestive enzymes to deal with booze. I think it has more to do with skin type. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts