Irish guy checking in. We call it the “Irish Tan.” Everyone I know that is light skinned and irish, gets similar symptoms. Granted, it’s much less now that I’ve “aged” a bit. 
Like wine, I get better with age… more groans and aches, but much more mellow.
Any online references? I googled and didn’t find any alcohol flushing = death cites.
Yes, I’m sure if I forced down enough alcohol (and you sealed my mouth shut after I tried to puke my guts out) I might die but the whole point of flushing for me is to keep alcohol and me seperate (a 100 ml shot of scotch caused me to puke and I have never touched any alcohol since).
For me, the reaction was so quick my friends still bug me about it 
Nah. The Professor mentioned his allergy in the episode when two Russian Cosmonauts landed on the island.
Wow, that sounds pretty bad. At worst, my heartbeat quickens and I can feel my pulse throbbing in my face and gums, but it certainly takes more than one shot and I don’t get anywhere near 138 beats/min.
It worked I haven’t touched any strong alcohol for the past 7 years. I’ve sipped some beer and mixed drinks but only enough to gag at the taste of the alcohol (and remind me again why I don’t touch it).
My sister also has the same “flushing” problem but she’s much better at drinking than I’ll ever be (she was a fairly decent drinker in her youth). It seems that it’s possible to adapt to it if you do it slowly.
Here, I drink beer regularly with impunity, but a bit of red wine, and I’m likely to be red and swollen in the face for an hour or two. For years it was not this way, but it just krept up over time.
I’ve had more serious allergic reactions in other contexts, so I know the signals.
So I just drink beer.
Don’t mess with a serious allergy.
If you keep avoiding them, how are future asian generations ever going to build up the resistance that the westerners have? I feel like I’m taking one for the team and helping along my descendants!