Question: Dear Doctor,

I am a 31 year old man born and brought up in India. I am taking alcohol since the age of 19 and since the age of 24, I am drinking 1-2 times in a week at least. I had no problem in taking alcohol ever but Since XXXXXXX 2010 I am suffering from allergy from alcohol. Anytime I drink beer, whiskey or vodka my face goes red, I feel nausia, I feel problem in breathing, heartbeat goes fast & I feel weak. Although, I am occasional drinking, I don’t want to quit drinking forever. However, since January 2011 this problem vanished totally and I was back to normal in drinking. But now again since XXXXXXX 2011 I am facing this problem and this time it is even worst. I am unable to drink even a glass of beer.

After a XXXXXXX study on Internet I realized this problem is known as asian flush and it is caused as I am unable to metabolize alcohol as I am missing some imp enzyme in my body. On Internet several people have mention to take Pepcid AC before drinking with huge amount of water intake. As Pepcid is not available in India, I took Zantak and even high acidity medicines with huge amount of water but no luck. I have tried several medicines of allergy too, but it did not work. I have gone through several studies on Internet and one of those is this - WWW.WWWW.WW

I am not on any kind of medications and for a long time I would say I did not have flu even. I keep a very normal diet, I take veg diet most of the time and non veg intake is in 20-30 days. When I read threads about Asian Flush reactions, I could make out my reaction is exactly the same. I feel exactly same as asian flush patients do.
I almost bought Niacin etc but before I could try them last year, I was back to normal in drinking.
I never faced this problem until last year. There is something interesting to note, I started facing this problem last year XXXXXXX it got resolved in XXXXXXX 2011 and again in XXXXXXX 2011 I am facing this problem. Also, I would like to mention since March 15th 2011, I am taking 3-4 beer everyday. I am not sure if this happened due to taking too much alcohol. But yet again I did not drink since XXXXXXX 15th and I tried it again yesterday and reaction was so bad that I can’t even tell you.
I even came to this website last year and doctor suggested me to tke allergy medicine but no luck.
I really wonder why I was back to normal after facing asian flush and how come again I have this problem? Please suggest a way to cure this….

I had liver and diabities test yesterday..


Here are the details of LFT and Diabities report -

Glucose - 84.00

Liver LFT -
SGOT (AST) - 27.00
SGPT (ALT) - 53.00
GGTP - 57.00
Alkaline Phophatase (ALP) - 66.00
Bilirubin, Total - 1.13
Bilirubin, Direct - 0.18
Bilirubin, Indirect - 0.95
Protein, Total - 7.50
Albumin - 4.70
A:G Ratio - 1.68"

Hi Doctor,

As far as genetic problem is concerned let me state this - My father takes alcohol without a problem, my mom doesn’t takes alcohol but my mom’s brothers and her father take alcohol without problem.

If this is being caused due to lack of an Enzyme then why I never had problems taking alcohol in several years? If there is a missing enzyme then I would have faced this problem whenever I took alcohol. In other words Asian flush patients face this problem every time they drink but in my case it is going and coming back.

If you read my initial mail again, you will find I had to quit alcohol when this problem started. I started this problem on first drink itself, so question of increasing the alcohol intake doesn’t arise.

Please study my case deeply and find a solution to this problem.

I consulted a doctor in Delhi and he had no clue of this problem. I also consulted a doctor online and this is what he said –
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“Hi Shakti,
Your case is certainly extraordinary. Asian flush does not appear and disappear as is seen in your case, I would therefore think that it is not Asian flush.
First I would think that there is something in your diet or your medications that is interfering with the activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase. Metronidazole is known to cause such an effect (I only hope that you have not bee taking Metronidazole or a related drug). Are you on any medication at all? We need to rule that out first.
Secondly have you suffered from any incidents that have your affected your life during these periods? We need to know that.
Lastly has there been any change in your life, diet, health that you can inform me.
I too need time to think about your case, I do not wish to give a reply which will not help you.
People who are deficient in the enzyme are at a greater risk of cancer due to alcohol, so you may consider stopping alcohol altogether.”

I answered his ques –

“I am not on any kind of medications and for a long time I would say I did not have flu even. I keep a very normal diet, I take veg diet most of the time and non veg intake is in 20-30 days. When I read threads about Asian Flush reactions, I could make out my reaction is exactly the same. I feel exactly same as asian flush patients do.
I almost bought Niacin etc but before I could try them last year, I was back to normal in drinking.
I never faced this problem until last year. There is something interesting to note, I started facing this problem last year XXXXXXX it got resolved in XXXXXXX 2011 and again in XXXXXXX 2011 I am facing this problem. Also, I would like to mention since March 15th 2011, I am taking 3-4 beer everyday. I am not sure if this happened due to taking too much alcohol. But yet again I did not drink since XXXXXXX 15th and I tried it again yesterday and reaction was so bad that I can’t even tell you. There has been no change in my diet…
I was drinking very normally but on 14th XXXXXXX when I had beer I started facing this problem. I was shocked as I that reacting came after 6-7 months… and since then you can say I am prone to this reaction every time I drink.

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I have pasted this thread so that you have more clue and you can do a better research.

Thanks
Shakti