#28 Peptides to Help with Autoimmunity, Lyme, Fibromyalgia with Dr. Jami West

Autoimmune chaos doesn’t have to run the show. We sat down with Dr. Jami West to map a clearer route: use GLP-class peptides as precision signals—at microdoses—to stabilize blood sugar, unburden the liver, and let the immune system stand down. 

What starts as a smarter way to curb “food noise” quickly becomes something bigger: sharper focus, steadier energy, calmer moods, and less pain. 

The stories here move beyond weight loss to real-life shifts in:

• Hashimoto’s, 
• Lyme-related neuro symptoms, 
• MS, 
• lupus, and 
• fibromyalgia. 

One organ that stands as a component to it all: the LIVER. We dig into why the liver sits at the center of hormone health and thyroid conversion, how high-dose one-size-fits-all plans backfire, and what a sustainable path looks like when you support gut and liver first. 

Expect clear guidance on microdosing to keep true hunger intact, protect muscle, and avoid nausea, plus insights on why triglycerides can be oddly low in autoimmunity and how they normalize as healing begins. 

You’ll hear how compounding enables fine-tuned dosing, why steady beats speedy for long-term weight and symptom stability, and how better glycemic control supports brain function at any age.

Whether you’re managing flares, rebuilding energy, or caring for aging parents, this episode delivers a grounded blueprint: simplify inputs, personalize dosing, listen to signals, and let better signaling do the heavy lifting.

Connect with Dr. Jami West at drjamiwest.com

Stop debating and go get your peptides. Your body deserves this. Grab the link to order below and access the purest peptides available. 

Want to connect more with the hosts? We'd love it! Connect with Jess at B2BwithJess.com/peptides or on Instagram @JessB_LMT_NC. Grab your Blood Work & Peptides Mini Guide for free at drkylieburton.com. 

Ready to explore peptide therapy for yourself? Visit the company we recommend for pharmaceutical peptides and receive all the one-on-one support that comes included at drkylieburton.com

Want to offer peptide therapy in your business? Whether you're adding it to your existing practice or building something new, learn how to get started—and how we'll mentor you along the way—at drkylieburton.com

Legal Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before starting any new health protocol. Dr. Kylie Burton and Jessica Briecke are affiliates and may receive compensation for referrals. Individual results may vary.

You have the science. You have the tools. Now it's time to take the next step.

This is PepTalk: Peptides Unpacked—science made simple, results made real.

Transcript

Setting The Stage: Peptides Explained

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Peptides are powerful and often misunderstood. And we're here to change that. One conversation at a time. I'm Dr. Kylie Burton. And I'm Jessica Brickie.

Why Autoimmune Disease Needs New Tools

Introducing Dr. Jamie West

SPEAKER_02 0:14

This is Pep Talk. Peptides Unpacked. Science made simple. Results made real. Autoimmune diseases. There are around 80 to 150, with the list continuing to grow longer and longer. In fact, one in ten people globally may have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. And it's definitely more than that because that's just diagnosed. Rates are rising worldwide, with some studies showing annual increases in prevalence and incidences all over the world. That's why autoimmune disease is our topic of conversation today. And you might be shocked about the treatment that you can use for peptides with autoimmune. We've brought on a special guest, Dr. Jamie West. She is an expert in autoimmune diseases and GLP 1, GIP, and the GLP3. Can we say that yet?

SPEAKER_00 1:09

We certainly can talk about it. We don't have that with the telemedicine company that we're using, but we can certainly talk about it. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Well, these GLPs, we're going to talk about how they impact autoimmune disease with Dr. Jamie Westonatis. So, Jamie, thanks for joining on with us. Thank you for having me. And uh just take us back into a little bit of your story so we know like you've experienced this as a clinician, but you also experienced this personally too.

Personal Stories Of Hashimoto’s And GLPs

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Absolutely. So I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 19, so over 21 years ago, and was on meds for a little bit, went off of them when I changed diet and all of that. And then a few years ago, diagnosed with Hashimoto's. And I could manage symptoms, but things just they never really got back to where they were before that. Fatigue, weight gain, brain fog was terrible. And it wasn't until we added in GLP1s that like night and day difference. And I feel like I can hold a conversation at the end of a day when I get home. I can talk to my kids and I know my name. But like fatigue is not there, inflammation's gone, all of that.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

That's it's pretty incredible. That is my experience as well. I I 21 years ago was diagnosed with Hashimoto's, which I've controlled largely myself. Um, and the reason, Kylie knows this, but the reason that I even started using them myself was for the neuroprotection benefit. I am the daughter of a stroke survivor who's the daughter of a stroke survivor. So anything that I could do to prevent risk of stroke, Alzheimer's dementia, sign me up, which is what started my journey. And what was the most profound thing that happened for me was the fact that I was able to not forget where I was in the middle of a thought, a sentence, speaking, forgetting somebody's name. It was like I was suddenly smart again. It was wild.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Yeah, that's incredible. That mental clarity has been one of the biggest differences that I've seen personally. And I've tried thousands of things over the years.

What Finally Worked: GLP Benefits Beyond Weight

SPEAKER_02 3:16

I was just gonna ask you like walk us through the things that you've attempted. You said diet, and then you switched over to GLPs and haven't had that great success. Take us into a deep dive, like a detailed journey of your experience with Hashimoto's, trying all of the things and now the thing that's really impacted you the most.

Microdosing Versus Standard Dosing

SPEAKER_01 3:36

So I have ran extensive blood work looking at mold, at chronic infections, addressing that, things like Epstein Bar, those things that we know can trigger it. Um looking at inflammation markers, going completely paleo, which did really good. And then it got to a point where it didn't anymore. Um, and then you hit like 38, 39, 40, and then comes like now your adrenals are gonna start talking to you, and there's the weight gain from that. So I've you know, gotten blood sugar under control, made sure that we weren't dealing with lows at night, um, addressed adrenals, addressed hormones, like doing Dutch testing and hormone zoomers and things like that to balance everything. Um been on We've walked down like every functional medicine avenue you can possibly walk down. Yeah, yeah. And all of the supplements, you know, folvic acid and omegas and all of the everything, uh, methylene blue, like nothing that would really cut it until like, and within a week of adding in trzeptide, I was like, oh my gosh, like this is what it's supposed to feel like. And it didn't take 15 supplements a day to feel like this. It was a game changer.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

I love I love that sentence right there. You got off of 15 supplements a day, transitioned over to peptides, GLPs, which did you start those for weight loss? Because that's what everybody knows them for. We just want people to know that they do way more than that. They do way more than that.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

I was like, you know, maybe a size bigger than I wanted to be. That wasn't my big goal with that. It was more the brain function.

Appetite, Food Noise, And Safety Signals

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Brain function. Um, just for my own selfishness. When you'd gone to the GLPs, did your appetite like drop? Because that's like my biggest fear is I'm already caloric deficient. I already don't eat enough. So it's like I don't want to do something that's gonna suppress that even worse.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

So we microdose, and that makes the biggest difference. But no, I and that's what we tell patients too, is if you start to not get hungry, then you need to tell us because we need to hear we your body needs to know when it's hungry and when it's full. And if we're starving ourselves, then that's nutrient depletion. And then you're gonna see muscle loss, and who knows what we're gonna see with people, you know, doing high doses over the years. But the food noise, like the something sweet sounds good after lunch, that went away.

Beyond Thyroid: Lyme, MS, Lupus, Fibro

SPEAKER_00 6:09

But I never like got to where I didn't want to have a meal because that's the biggest difference with microdosing and and being able to do something like what we're doing with compounding, because then you can adjust that dose personally. Because a microdose, I know that there has to be some standard of care, right? So our telemedicine company has a standard microdose that they have to prescribe. I understand that. Um, and in my opinion, that dose is significantly higher than what it is for for most people. Some people may need to get there. That might be the dose that they need to be for their microdose um longer term. But that signal, that ability to listen to the hunger cues, um, how we're how our bowel movements are having, the nausea, all of those things are signals that our body's telling us it's turned up too high. And everybody thinks, well, if I just wouldn't eat, I'm gonna lose weight and hit my goals. Well, sure, you're not, you're gonna lose weight because you're starving yourself, but that doesn't mean that you're healthy on the inside. So microdosing with a compounded version where you can get right to the unit of what is good for your body and listening to that, still being hungry. We want you to not sit down at 10 o'clock at night when it's really time to be winding down for bed and have the pantry screaming your name, saying, Come and get me a bag of chips or whatever it is. Um, so that's turned on smarter, but not that lunch and dinner go by and you have no interest at all. So finding that sweet balance with microdosing is really powerful and important to listen to.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Yeah, absolutely. Now you both have Hashimoto's, but this impacts more than just Hashimoto's and the thyroid. Jamie, what have you seen your clients go through?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

I've seen incredible results with patients that have Limes, um, where it really starts to turn down that inflammation and help with a lot of the neurological issues that they're dealing with. Um, I have patients with ML.

Inflammation, Gut Health, And Healing Pathways

SPEAKER_02 8:08

I think Lyme and GLPs. Like that's that's cool. So the mechanism behind it is really just tackling inflammation. And then from there, it's a cascade.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Yeah, and your body can start to heal whenever it, you know, it's not dealing with the inflammation and the cortisol and all the insulin, you know, it feels safe again and it can really have a chance to heal.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Okay, so you did Lyme disease and you said MS.

Blood Sugar, Liver Load, And Hormones

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Yeah, MS. Um, I have some with lupus, fibromyalgia. It's really made a big difference in fibromyalgia, like helping heal the gut, um, where they're not in chronic pain all the time. Um, and you know that they're at a really good spot when they're like, I just don't know what to do with all this energy. Like I have so much I don't know what to do. And I'm like, okay, like that's a great thing. Big problem to have. Yeah, good problem to have. Um, and really, like just from a female perspective, whenever they're like, I feel like I can be a better mom, because it's not always the things that are just controlling their body and how they function, but they can actually focus on their family like we should be doing anyway.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

That's really powerful. I never really got a lot more energy. Yeah. I didn't think about it in terms of, you know, from you know, mom stress um and how that kind of helps that um, you know, get down and play with your kid and maybe not even snap at your child because you're at your wit's end in pain and no energy. And I mean, you're tired as a as a mom anyway, um, just because of the job is exhausting. But when you add all these metabolic dysfunctions on top of that, that's so much more. So your stress level is so low. Dealing with GLPs and healing the gut, which is directly correlated with our brain function, is significantly going to impact that. I never gave that a thought.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Yeah, it makes a big difference. And there's even like even on the hormone side a little. I have a lady that she is she had a hysterectomy, but she can still kind of tell when her body's going through like what would normally be her menstrual cycle. And last week she's like, you know, I didn't even feel that last month. I just felt like normal month, like no irritability, no, you should probably be having your cycle right now. Like that was completely gone too. So there it's just incredible all the way around.

Why High Doses Make Some People Sick

When Higher Doses Are Considered

Rethinking Weight Loss Timelines

SPEAKER_00 10:36

I explained this to somebody the other day, too, when we're talking about blood sugar and bell, because at the core of this, it was designed to help balance blood sugar, right? Um, that's what it's been used for for for decades. It's not new, even though people say, we're just hearing about it. No, it's been around for decades. And it was used for balancing blood sugar, which is still the primary goal of these peptides. But when it comes to hormone balancing, what we know is when we're consuming too many carbohydrates, sugar, um, and our liver is going to become problematic. Our liver is gonna get, I talk about it in terms of it's a coat closet and it can only hold so many coats, right? So you keep shoving it in and shove it in, which is excess carb, excess energy the body's not using, which increases our cholesterol levels because those coats are now bursting out into the body and they have to go somewhere else to store and it stores this fat. But that liver gets bogged down, and the liver, as we know, does over 500 jobs. It's so important, including changing hormones from one form to another or clearing hormones. So when we don't have balanced blood sugar, we're gonna see, I really believe that's at the crux of a lot of infertility issues too. That's why metformin has been a big go-to for women that have not been able to conceive is to balance that blood sugar through metformin, which is awful on the system, in my opinion. Um, but uh it's going to have in huge impact on any stage of hormonal production, whether we are in reproductive years or we are postmenopausal pausal, because that liver needs to be healthy. It needs to not be bogged down with too much stored excess glucose or glucagon or whatever it is, and clear and make hormones as we should.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Yeah, it really makes a big difference when you take that load off. And I think that that's why a lot of women they get so sick on the high doses of peptides, also, is because that liver is just so bogged down already and they're so stressed out, and then you put such high doses of this in, and then you know, you can't expect anything but to get sick.

Lab Markers That Change With GLPs

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Do you think there is play? So you do a lot of microdosing, it sounds like so do I. I'm a big, big proponent of that, but there are certainly going to be people that need a little bit more than just a microdose, depending on their goals and everybody's um situation. And there's a lot of people that are gonna listen to this or that are listening to the friend's journey and they have FOMO, they just want to lose the weight, they want to do it really quickly. Um, and I'm a big like, this isn't a race, this is the rest of your life. We don't need to do this quickly, so let's do it responsibly so you don't fall back into these old things. Use this tool to change your life. So, coming at this from a place of microdosing in your practice, do you believe in higher doses? Like, do you see where that can be necessary for some people? And how do you approach it?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

If everything else has been changed and isn't working, so we support gut and liver starting off, and then we have like they have protein goals, we have it in a full system where you know they know what they're supposed to eat, when, how much um they know um, like we make sure they're having bowel movements every day. They don't have a lot of other things going on, and sometimes that will get increased, but we don't ever go over the microdosing that's prescribed.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

So if somebody came to you with a 200-pound weight loss goal, do you think that they would ever need to get above that?

SPEAKER_01 14:13

We don't typically, we just tell them it's gonna take a long time and we want it to be sustainable. Like we don't want this to be as or should take a long time.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Yeah.

Longevity, Brain Health, And Aging Parents

unknown 14:22

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Yeah, not where it's like, well, it's a long time to gain it, might as well take a long time to get it back. The safe route, and that's where we have problems with the standard dosing. It's like people are like, I want to lose a hundred pounds in a year. It's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. Maybe we should do like more like 30 pounds in a year safely.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Yeah, and you want it to be, you know, something that where they can maintain it long term, it's not just this thing they did this time and they lost weight now, they're looking for the next thing.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Yeah. Do you, Jamie? I want to jump back to the autoimmune component because we hit weight loss plenty of times. Yes, I hear you. Um, when you look at labs, because you said you're a big lab proponent. What do you see in the lab with numbers as far as like antibodies? And you know, I'm I'm big lab girl. Yeah. So what do you see?

Practical Takeaways And Where To Find Help

SPEAKER_01 15:12

So you definitely will see, like in autoimmunity, triglycerides are usually low. So you'll actually see those things start to come up as the body starts to heal. Um, definitely antibodies come down, liver's not congested. Um, because gut is working better, you're gonna see more of that T4 to T3 conversion. Like things just start working so much better. Not as much cardiac inflammation, clotting proteins go down. Um, there was a paper that was published probably about two months ago now, and they found that over long-term use with peptides, all causes of morbidity and mortality were decreased, which is astounding. So it's it's just been really incredible to see. I haven't done a like a brain zoomer yet, pre and post, but that should be coming up. I think he has those done in about a week. So we can see like antibodies in the cerebellum and in the brain come down too. I'm super excited for that. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Um I love that because like I'm 36. I got the I feel like I have the world ahead of me. And I was talking to a friend yesterday, and and he was like, I just want to try everything because I want to see how much better I can feel. Like we look, like I look at my grandparents, I only have one left, and he's 90. He has to have somebody with him 24-7. So last night, yesterday, whoa, yesterday I was on grandpa duty, and I just like, I don't, you don't want to live elderly years like that. And I think it's so powerful what these peptides can do with all different messaging in all aspects of the body, cellular messaging in every place, and so it has a position in every way, shape, or form, whether you're wanting to heal something that's already gone wrong, or if you want to be proactive and be more of the biohacker with these peptides, like the potential is so cool, and only time is gonna tell how powerful these things really are when they're done right, as we've previously mentioned.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Yeah, absolutely. Can I ask you about that? Brings me to a point. I have a lot of people that come into my office that are um late 60s, early 70s. Um, they've been diagnosed with various autoimmune conditions within the past 20, 30 years. Um do you think that there is a time limit at which this isn't a beneficial practice for for somebody as they age? Or do you think that at any time this could help potentially any of those people suffering?

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Yeah, I don't think there's a time limit at all. I think you can make improvement in almost everything. And especially when they're older. I mean, you think about how much even just care has changed and the things they that we know and the things that they've been exposed to their whole life where you couldn't touch a lot of those things before. Not the way that you can now and not as quickly as you can with peptides. So, no, I think even later in life, absolutely it can make a difference.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

I I asked because I I'm really wanting to get my mom on on a GLP. I want to microdose with her. I've noticed post-stroke, um, just her memory is not as sharp. In in the year following, it's gonna be three years this spring. In the year following, she worked so hard and it came back pretty good. But this last year has been really tough, and you're seeing this big decline in brain function. And I just can't help but wonder if, you know, I know that blood sugar was never balanced, stress was always high, but she too was diagnosed with thyroid, um, hypothyroid because that's what it was forever ago, and Hashimoto's wasn't really being called out, probably for what it was for her at the time. But I keep thinking, man, this is gonna really help her if we could do this.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Absolutely. Well, you know that that high blood pressure, that high blood sugar affects the brain, and we have now type three diabetes, right? So I think absolutely like it's gonna bring the inflammation down in the brain, and why not see what can happen? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

And now you have the personalized dosage, which makes it a no-brainer. Personalized dosage with the oral drops if she doesn't want to do the injections. So okay, well, Jamie, we don't want to sew you for too long. Um, thank you for letting us pick your brain. Thank you for letting us share your experience, not just personally, but clinically as well. If you were talking to any autoimmune person out there, what advice would you give them?

SPEAKER_01 19:46

That what you usually hear are the horror stories, but when you do it right, like you don't see those horror stories. When it's, you know, paired the right way. There's practitioner oversight, even you're fueling your body the right way. You just see the positive. And it can just absolutely change your life.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

I feel like the autoimmune people, like they are the people who are on the ball, anyways, with the foundational components. The adding this is just gonna give them that last little like oomph and get them to be feeling like, as you said, how they should feel with all of the different supplements that they're trying to take and get through. So that's the fun part of it is you can exchange the long list of supplements and feel your best on just a tiny microdose of GLPs, which is super cool. Okay, Jamie, where do they find you?

SPEAKER_01 20:38

Um online at drjamiewest.com or same thing on Instagram or Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

And that's J A M I. Right, Noe West. No E. Okay, that's a wrap.

Business Resources And How To Start

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Just what's our new outro? All righty. Well, I had it right in front of me, but of course, as we're talking, I lost the new outro. But I want to say um if today's conversation sparked something for you, whether you want to learn more about peptides, obtain them the right way, or start building a peptide business, that's exactly what I do. And you don't need a wellness background or a big audience to get started. Kylie and I have built a team together, a really powerful lineup of professionals that are ready to help guide you and build every step of the way. So you can come find me at my new Instagram handle, just b.talkshealth on Instagram, or you can grab me on my website at b2bewithjess.com. We can build something together.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Kylie, if you're ready to build a real peptide income stream, a business with actual legs, something that can grow to four, five, six, and dare I say it, yes, even seven figures. Jess and I have intentionally built this team with a powerful line of professionals around us so that when you come in, you're not figuring this out. Thou alone. I have built it. I know the path, and I know nothing more. I love nothing more than helping other people walk it too. So if you're interested on the business side of things, go to drkylieburton.com. If you're interested in starting your GLP ones or twos or threes or any other peptide, you can start it at drkylyburton.com. Let's get to work. This is pep talk, peptides unpacked.