So after a few years of being better, I began to try coffee again in limited amounts. But I could tell my stomach was beginning to feel irritated again. Now, at this point, I had become “hooked” on Prilosec to help manage my heartburn. Every time I stopped taking it, I would feel my symptoms returning and so I would start taking Prilosec again. I also began to notice that I seemed to feel more fatigued and had lower back pain and muscle aches when resuming Prilosec. So I started researching possible side effects of proton pump inhibitors(PPIs) and found that reports of magnesium deficiency were showing up in the medical literature. Though I never confirmed whether I was getting magnesium deficiency or not, I finally decided I was done with PPIs. I had to find another way to deal with my heartburn.
About Go Mushroom Coffee
Hi!
My name is Colin Castleberry. I am an optometrist in private practice in East Texas. I have always had a passion for a holistic approach to treating my patients and myself. That includes incorporating nutritional supplements in addition to traditional therapeutic treatments. After 20 years in practice, I have observed a clear relationship between systemic (general) health and eye health. In many cases, eye problems are a result of general health problems; which are either caused by, or at the least exacerbated by, poor diet and nutrition. This observation has furthered my interest in studying how diet and nutrition can be used to manage and treat health conditions naturally. Along the way, I discovered the many wonderful benefits of medicinal mushrooms.
Go Mushroom Coffee is a side project I created to share my experience with mushroom coffee and functional mushroom supplements. Although I am not a fitness fanatic, I do consider myself health conscious and try to maintain a healthy diet and have consistently been in the gym or working out 3+ days a week for over 20 years.
After years of struggling with acid reflux and stomach ulcer, I had to quit drinking coffee altogether. As some one who had been drinking coffee since the 5th grade, this sucked, but hey, replacing coffee with a variety of herbal teas helped get my chronic heartburn under control. My internist also started me on Prilosec.
So, I stopped PPIs cold-turkey and have not used them at all in over five years. In general, when someone stops chronic use of a PPI, they get a rebound or excess of stomach acid production which leads to symptoms of heartburn and stomach ache. As such, you tend to resume the PPI to relieve your symptoms. It is a vicious cycle. When I stopped taking a PPI for the last time, I relied on a regimen of cayenne pepper mixed in several ounces of water 1-2 times a day initially. Although this goes against conventional medical advice to avoid “spicy” foods, cayenne has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for digestive disorders. Capsaicin (the molecule found in cayenne pepper) is believed to actually inhibit acid secretion, increase alkali(reduce acidity), and stimulate stomach wall mucosal secretions. Scientific research in recent decades has emerged that seems to support the positive effects of cayenne on the digestive system, especially for stomach ulcers.
While researching ways to naturally treat my heartburn problems, I also stumbled into the world of medicinal, or functional mushrooms. This information led to me experimenting with lion’s mane coffee and a variety of herbal teas with licorice, mint, slippery elm, and other ingredients believed to help the digestive system. I found that I was able to comfortably drink mushroom coffee in the morning and enjoy teas in the evening. Eventually, I became symptom free with only rare flare ups. I now enjoy 1-2 cups a day of mushroom coffee and I feel good doing it.
Like the saying goes, “Results may vary”, but my experience with functional mushrooms has provided me with symptomatic relief from stomach problems, and has even helped improve my sleep and energy when working out. If you decide to try them out, I hope you see some positive results too!
Colin Castleberry, O.D.
In addition to practicing optometry, I am also a hobby coder tinkering with javascript and React. I build websites, play with Linux distros, and enjoy helping folks with email and internet security. I also like gardening and woodworking when I can find time!
I hope you find this site useful. Feel free to reach out if you have a question.