#49 Peptides Cause Cancer? Jen's Oncologist Was the One Who Recommended Them.

A teratoma on her ovary. Then Hashimoto's. Then breast cancer. When it rains, it pours — and for Jen Gifford Wersland, it absolutely did.

In this episode, Dr. Kylie Burton and Jessica Briecke sit down with Jen, a breast cancer survivor whose story is equal parts harrowing and hopeful. From being dismissed in the ER with an IBS diagnosis (while carrying a peach-sized ovarian tumor) to navigating 12 rounds of chemo, a mastectomy, sudden menopause, and a reactivated Epstein-Barr virus — Jen's body had been through war. And the inflammation to prove it.

Then her oncologist brought up microdosing tirzepatide. And Jen almost walked out.

In this episode you'll hear:

• Why Jen pushed back on her ER diagnosis and the CT scan that changed everything
• What a teratoma actually is (and why you probably shouldn't Google it)
• How Jen combined conventional cancer treatment with naturopathic support — and why that naturopath made all the difference
• The real truth about peptides and cancer — and why her oncologist was the one recommending them
• Why medical oversight isn't optional when you have a cancer history
• Her full peptide stack: microdose tirzepatide, glutathione, thymosin alpha-1, and PT141
• The MTHFR mutation, estrogen detox pathways, and why the Dutch test revealed what nobody else had caught
• What "feeling better than I did at 35" looks like at nearly 50 — and why she's ready to bring it on

If you've been told peptides aren't safe after cancer, this episode is a must-listen. And if you've been quietly suffering and putting everyone else first — Jen has something to say to you too.

Find Jen: Facebook: Jennifer Gifford Warsland Instagram & TikTok: @ThrivingAfterBreastCancer

Want to connect more with the hosts? We'd love it! Connect with Jess at B2BwithJess.com/peptides or on Instagram @jessb.talkshealth. 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.

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

Transcript

Peptides, The C Word, And Why

SPEAKER_00 0:01

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.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

This is Pep Talk, Peptides Unpacked. That C word that makes a lot of people cringe and have it, they have a lot of negative reactions to it. We're going to talk about that C word today and how peptides can play a role in recovery and re remaining in remission. We have uh Jen on with us today who's also talked a little bit about skin. So if you haven't heard that as episode, go back and listen to it. But Jen's gonna invite us in on her story. And when people say it rains, it pours. Well, it rained and it poured. Jen, take us back.

When “IBS” Isn’t The Answer

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Um, everything started coming to a head in 2023. It was February of 2023. Not long ago. Mm-mm. Okay. No, it really wasn't. Um, I was having like really bad abdominal bloating, and I ended up going into the emergency room. The doctor said, You have IBS, and I've struggled with IBS for a long, long time, knew it wasn't IBS.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

So this was different, like this was different symptoms from way different.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

I mean, I would wake up in the morning not eating, and my belly bloated like I was nine months pregnant. I mean, it was crazy. And so I went home in tears, called my regular doctor, begging for some sort of some sort of testing. She ordered a CT and I had a peach-sized ovarian tumor that they found, which led to my hysterectomy that I got. Wait, time out, time out. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Yep. And then they find a peach-sized tumor. On my ovary. Yeah. On your ovary. And doctors. It can't be though.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

No, they're little. So yeah, it was way bigger than the way bigger than the thing. Bigger than the ovary itself. Way bigger. But we so it was your pushing to say, hey, this is not my normal IBS symptoms, something else. Let's go deeper. And they agreed to do a scan, I'm assuming, and that's where they found that. My regular doctor, Dave. Oh.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

And I knew it wasn't. And um, so April, I had the hysterectomy.

Hysterectomy, Teratoma, And Aftermath

SPEAKER_01 2:22

It was a teratoma, which if you're in the medical field, everyone goes, goo goo ga-ga, it's tumor that can have hair and teeth and nails. Don't look it up. Don't look it up if you don't look it up.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

It is but a lot of my nurse friends are like, You had one of those. Was there something in it?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Yep, it had hair and teeth, and it was, yeah, nasty. They well, I was that wanted it in a jar to take home.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

I would have too. They wouldn't let me. Thank goodness. But they did open it up to see what was inside it.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yeah, because they um do pathology on it. Right. There's only one percent that are usually cancer, and thankfully that was not cancer. Um that so they did a hysterectomy, left one ovary, and my I just did not feel good after that. I mean, I felt better after the hysterectomy, but bloating was better. The bloating was better, but I just I was chronically inflamed. Like my face was always hot, I was always having hot flashes, I just didn't feel good. Got diagnosed with Hashimoto's two months after my hysterectomy. And like I said, when it rains it pours. Yeah, and I still, you know, did not feel good for a whole year. I was never putting myself first, I was always taking care of everyone else. As women do. Yeah, took care of my aging dad. Um, he had passed away in 2021, but just a lot of things had happened in life, and I just wasn't putting myself first. And but I was also knowing things were not right within my body. Um, and then a year after the hysterectomy, so April of 2024, April 26th of 2024, I got diagnosed with breast cancer.

Triple Positive Breast Cancer Reality Check

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Triple positive. Went in, or I came out of surgery thinking I wasn't gonna need treatment. Um, my breast cancer surgeon had said, Yeah, I don't think you're gonna need any treatment, which she's not the oncologist. I go see the oncologist six weeks later, and she's writing on a notepad 12 rounds of chemo, one year of targeted therapy. Like, and this is after I've had surgery. It was stage one. We caught it really early, but my heart just dropped, and I immediately am crying. My husband is looking at her, and I actually went home and I was like, maybe I just do natural treatment. Like, you know, maybe I just look at the natural route.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

You said this was post-surgery, right? This was post-surgery. So one, we've had surgery on our ovary. Yep. Two, we get Hashimoto's. Yep. And then three, now we've got breast cancer. Yep. With surgery, and now we're being told we have chemo.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

And a year of another third.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

And your kids are how old? At that time, um, my oldest was already graduated, so she was 21. My son had here I am thinking like she's gonna say 10.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Keep forgetting. Oh no, three.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

We did again, let me just say, go back and read, listen to the skin episode because she said that I was like, how is this possible? I forgot how old she is because she doesn't like it. Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

I'm I'm gonna be good for this year. I've said 10 years younger than I thought. Oh yeah. Okay, kids are grown. All right, and I wasn't real young when I started having kids either. So, um, well, my oldest was 21. My son was a senior when I got diagnosed, and we actually had an exchange student living with us. Oh, cool. When yeah, when I got diagnosed. And my youngest, she was well, she's 15 now, so she was 13. So she was with me through everything, and she is my she is my rock. She's my rock. She's been with me through it. And um, so yeah, I had the mastectomy, got diagnosed April, had the massectomy July, started chemo in August. Um, got to be. Yeah, so I combined natural treatment with everything else. So mine was a her to positive cancer, makes it more aggressive. I went back and forth on should I do it, should I not? And I did a lot of praying and it was the best choice for me. But I combined um, I sort of see in a naturopath that was with my cancer center. Thank God for her.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

They have a naturopath with the cancer center.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah, she was contracted with the cancer center. She's not anymore, but I still see her. Um, but yeah, and I didn't the doctors didn't tell me about her. It was a gal um I met getting chemo, and I just was not feeling good. And she's like, Did you know you can see a naturopath here? It's on a phone call because she's in western Montana. I'm in the middle. And she got me on supplements to support my heart because the chemo was really affecting my heart. A lot of things were going on. So she got me on all of that. I was feeling pretty

Post Chemo Pain, Scans, And Inflammation

SPEAKER_01 7:15

good. I got done with chemo in November, January, pain from my head down to my toes. And they were concerned that my cancer was back because I was in so much pain, so inflamed. And so they scanned my brain and then they scanned my spine, and I have a lot of spine issues, like herniated disc in my thoracic, um, a couple bulging ones in my thoracic as well, and my lower back, my neck has severe arthritis, like all this came off.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

What have you been doing out there in Montana? I know.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Like when they look at my scans, they're like, and they look at me, they're thinking this should be an 80-year-old man that works in the farm or the oil field or something. And yeah, drinking all the pesticides. Yeah, so we really don't know. It really um getting thrown into menopause, because when they placed my port, I had them take my other ovary. I'm like, I'm not gonna have you give me these shots to kill off my ovary, just take it, and then I'll get thrown into menopause, which I thought was a good idea at the time until all the menopause symptoms started. Um, I didn't really notice it till I got done with chemo, but they did all those scans. Thankfully, no cancer. It was inflammation that I had going on.

Tirzepatide Recommendation And Peptide Myths

SPEAKER_01 8:26

So my oncologist brought up to start microdosing tears epitide. And I said oncologist did. My oncologist did, because my inflammation markers were coming back burn up higher.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

I want is I want to highlight that, guys. There's a lot of people that don't know anything about peptides, but what they do think that they know, those that are uneducated, is that peptides cause cancer. Peptides cause cancer. You know, the thing, the peptides that we make naturally in our intestines, they cause cancer. That's not the case. And here is somebody whose oncologist is suggesting let's use peptides, the things that people think cause cancer. Let's use this to help her in her post-canc, most vulnerable post-cancer state. Like you're uh you you would be considered a high-risk uh patient being having fought the f fight with this already. So I just want to highlight that. There's so many things that are unknown or mis untruths that are out there, and that is a big one.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

And there's so much coming out now that it's actually beneficial. But I told her um there's no way I was gonna go on that. And I left her office because what you don't know, you don't know. I mean, I just heard really bad stuff. And so the next day, my naturopath oncologist called me, and she's the one that really started talking to me about it. And she said, microdosing is completely different. Um, it's strictly for getting your inflammation down. In I was insulin resistant, uh, my um metabolic function, you know, metabolic dysfunction, I should say. So all of it. And she's the one that talked me into it. And um I'm like, well, where do I get it? You know, and then I was like, wait a second. I saw Tanya was posting, and so I think I know somebody. Yeah, and I had asked my naturopath about this company, and she's like, Yes, very clean. Um, products triple filtered, you know, through an accredited pharmacy, all of that.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

And because I'm yeah, you didn't go Google how where do I get peptides and get them from some website that popped up. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

And I don't do that. Yeah, don't do that. And I I'm really, really a huge advocate on there needs to be provider oversight with all sorts of peptides because I mean there's some I can't take because of my cancer history. If I just go on a website, I could just go order it and start taking it.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Let's not glaze over that either. So while we just I mentioned and I paused on the fact that we're worried about GLPs causing cancer that people don't have that. What we do know is that some of the peptides have growth hormone factor in there. So like uh test moralin, uh impamoralin, like those kinds of things. They also impact growth hormone. They do, they impact growth hormone. So when you're talking about replicating cells, we don't want to be replicating the cells we don't want, which could influence those cancer cells could be influenced there. So medical oversight is so crucial. And understanding that even if you are cancer free in this moment, uh doesn't make you safe, right? Like you gotta be very careful. There needs to be enough time between your finishing treatment for your cancer and and starting some that if it's the right path. So you going out there and thinking this is a great I fit uh this is the right fit for me because I have these symptoms, and you're going out there and getting this stuff on your own, don't do that. Medical oversight is crucial. You need somebody to make sure this is the right thing for your body. So yes, they peptides can be really great if the right ones are there for you, but they can also be harmful not because they're causing cancer, but they can influence the reproduction or the growth of tumors or certain cellular uh cancer cells. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Medical oversight by people who understand this stuff and by people who are trained, like like I'm a chiropractor, I'm understanding it with stories and things that I do in my own research. But I want people to get the best. And the best means you have to have a prescription, which means you have to get it from a prescription licensed physician. And so we all have partnered with that telemedicine company who provides us the partnership with those physicians. So under knowing that you're not just working with somebody, but you're working with somebody who gets

Why Medical Oversight Really Matters

SPEAKER_02 12:55

it. Right. And they get the powerful aspects of microdosing for all different health scenarios.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

So your integrative person called you after you walked out of the office.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Yep, and um wait a second, come back here.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

You gotta talk about more of us.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Yeah. She and we just have phone calls because she's in a different town. But yeah, so she called, and I'm like, why is a naturopath saying I need to take this?

Microdosing Results Week By Week

SPEAKER_01 13:22

And so I researched, um, ended up starting it, and week one, these aches and pains started going away. Week two, I'm feeling even better. And it's just keeps bet getting better and better. And so I was like, I have to start sharing this with everyone because I I have felt I felt so crappy for so long.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

We before we hit record, you showed me some like, here's what I looked like six months ago, here's what I look like now. And if I would have saw seen the same person coming down the same, I well, that picture was a couple years ago, my passport one. Okay, I wouldn't have recognized you as the same person.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Oh, yeah. But but you're talking, but in that time frame, right? This this is cancer, this is a cancer picture, essentially. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah, and so I mean, it's crazy how healthy I look now compared to what I look like when I was just chronically inflamed and you have aged backwards.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Yeah, because I've seen that picture. Yeah, you've taken years off from your appearance, and not to mention your life in general.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, the way that I was feeling, I've I felt like I was dying, you know. I mean, I just hurt so bad. And I think it was a combination of um the treatments and everything my body went through, but menopause, holy crap.

Menopause, Liver Detox, And Glutathione

SPEAKER_02 14:43

I didn't think there's gonna be so much to look forward to.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Yes, but the difference for you, Kylie, is we have learned that you start you are already in the age group of starting to lose hormone, right? Don't remind me, please. Well, if you have to remind me about my age, I am going to remind you of yours. Yeah, and you're you will have things on board.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

By the time I get there, I'll be smooth, said it.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

That is 100% true. I will also say this though about menopause. So we in the skin episode we talked about liver, detox pathways, being able to get rid of it. So one with cancer, a lot of times we talk about it's it's really a toxic burden that's built up in the body. Um, you were showing signs of other metabolic dysfunction with the thyroid, um, insulin resistance. So, of course, the GLPs were going to be very important for you there. The stress, you were not making them. So that GLP was was layered into probably other things that were going on that you needed, cancer aside, but as uh as a recovery source, it was uh remarkable. But uh drainage is key for everybody, and that includes uh menopause. So if we can't clear the hormones, if we're we're asking asking the liver to make a different version of the of a hormone, estrogen, for example, is one thing, right? It goes in and it comes out as another, and we have the the the waste product that we're supposed to be pooping out. If we don't, it recirculates, so we see estrogen dominance and blah blah blah. Um so I believe fully for myself, I have not had really knock on wood any menopausal symptoms. Really? None.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

But I have prioritized my liver for many, many, many, many, many years. Um so we talked about glutathione and the importance of glutathione, which you are doing and increasing the drainage for you. But for you, Kylie, you can get on board with maybe a little bit of hormone if you need or you start showing symptoms. You know now that you want to get ahead of that and not get behind it, but your your liver support is going to be key for you during journey. Very important. And that's probably what's helped you significantly and how you feel because yes, the GLPs knocked your inflammation down, it helped to rebalance your metabolic dysfunction and all these other things, but in addition, you were doing glutathione, which is helping that drainage, which is another layer

MTHFR, Hormones, And Libido Support

SPEAKER_00 16:57

to all of that.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Well, and I did some testing. Um, Tanya's helped me with a lot, and so I found out I have the MTHFR, which a lot of people a lot of people have that. Um, so you don't methylate well. You don't know.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

They do have the gene, you can get the GLP, GIP with the B12 methylated combination, yep, which solves the problem. Not the crappy stuff.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Yes. And yeah, so um that I had a Dutch test done. I was not detoxing, like it showed my pathways, my estrogen was just building up. Um, so it's super important to be detoxing that. I, my personal choice, I refused hormone blockers and the aromatase inhibitors. Um, I have pretty significant bone loss in one year on my DEXA scan from going through chemo and then getting thrown into menopause. So it was decided with my oncologist that I went on a testosterone pellet. And so it's usually no-no for um breast cancer, but that's another thing people should go and research. There's actually a lot of benefits in testosterone therapy and breast cancer.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

You want to get thrown in the headboard now, too. I mean, or testosterone, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Well, and when you go through all this too, is breast cancer and chemo and all that. You have no libido. I mean, I started PT141 and I talk freely about peptide stack.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Okay. So you're like gone through all the things, you've got an intermission, now you get to rebuild your body. And you get to rebuild it in a way that's like, look, I don't want to go back to who I was. I want to move forward in this new chapter with not just my health, but everything that comes with having great health. So walk us through that journey.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Okay, so I do um tearsapatide, the microdose. Okay. And I do it with the glycine because it helps me sleep. And it helps with, you know, muscle and all of those.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

There's glycine, there's L-conitine, and there's B12. Right. And the reality is you can get a methylated B12 uh B vitamins from another source. So if you choose to get the glycine here, then that's good.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

So that's what I really like. Um glutathione, the injectable glutathione will be a given for me forever just because of the pro um detox properties with it. Thymosin alpha one, I am on because of my Hashimoto's. And that was another thing. My antibodies, when I started microdosing, those started coming down. And what? Yeah, it's like, what? What's going on? Um they started going back up, and we knew something was going on because I'm doing all the right things. And so my naturopath is like, I'm gonna test you. So I have reactivation of Epstein Barr virus, but when I got diagnosed with cancer, I was like, whatever news I get, I'm gonna find the positive because you just have to be positive. Even when you feel like there's not going to leave. You do. I mean, you you just have to be positive. And so, you know, when she calls me, I'm like, Well, what do I need to do? You know, so thymosin alpha one is really important. Um, and then I do use the PT141, and that's been great for my libido. My husband uses it. We love it. So as you should. Yep. So women out there, if you're needing something for sexual health, uh, PT141 all the way. I am I am sold on it.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

So one of the questions that we often get asked is how long are you planning on staying on this stuff?

Long Term Plan And Starting Point

SPEAKER_02 20:25

Walk us through like, what's long term, what's short term, what's your plan with it?

SPEAKER_01 20:28

So the microdose I will continue to take because of the inflammatory inflammatory benefits. Um I will continue to take that. And glutathione, I will continue to take because it's very important to detox. The MOSN alpha one until we can get my immune set. My immune system really took an attack. So I'm not sure on that one. I'm gonna have to ask my.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

And that one typically too, um, you might need a cycle or two with that one. And then when you've got your immune system regulated, whether it's overactive or underactive, then you're looking at maybe once or twice a year, like right, maybe you're gonna do it during during flu season or just before flu season, and then maybe six months later you might do just a round of that just to keep the immune system in check. So that's probably, I would assume your doctor's gonna say, probably not for forever. We're just gonna get you regulated and then we'll visit it when we need to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

And then the skin care, the topical that we have, um, because it has a GHKCU in it and it's amazing for your skin. I can't take the injection, but I can take that one. Yes, you can.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

And it's paying off. Okay. If somebody's sitting on the fence or they've listened and they're like, hmm, where should I start? Just start.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Well, and I would say, I would would you say if you have a cancer diagnosis, don't automatically assume you're ruled out.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Yeah, no, absolutely not. Um, you have to do a health assessment through the company we're with, which I'm super thankful for, and put everything down on that, and then I say just, you know, start. I well, you don't know, you don't know, and I wish I would have started earlier, to be honest. Maybe a lot of things wouldn't have happened, but I also feel like things that have happened in my life happened for a reason, and God gave me a voice, and I share a lot because I have helped a lot of people, and I feel better now than I have. And like looking back, like even when I was like 35, I mean, I feel really, really good. And so I'm like, bring on 50. I'm so excited to turn 50. It's the best decade yet. It is a little ahead of you. You're gonna love it. So I'm ready.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

How

Family Impact, Gratitude, And Where To Find

SPEAKER_02 22:40

has your relationship with your family changed because you've got your health?

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Um, I think I'm better to be around, to be honest, because before we couldn't go do a lot of things because I was always in pain, or this or that. And so, I mean, we go on hikes, you know, we do all sorts of stuff, and just being present with them, and I think, especially my older kids, they um can, you know, mom's gonna be around. So the bell starts hearing up. Yeah, mom's gonna be around, and my son is always telling me, I'm so proud of you. Like, he's just and my daughter, my youngest, she is a my big cheerleader too. Like, when I rang that bell when I got done with chemo, I didn't realize how everything affected her. And she just came over and we just were crying, and I'm like, oh my gosh. It's when you're in it, you don't understand. But yeah, those kids are always watching, and you want to show them how to be healthy. So, and they've lived it with me. I mean, that picture you saw, that's how they saw their mom all the time. Even when I'm looking back, my son's a wrestler. Looking back at the pictures, I'm like, holy cow, it doesn't even look like it brings back a lot of memories because I remember how crappy I felt, but I'm like, that doesn't even look like me anymore. So And it isn't you anymore. No, it's not. I was given a new life, is what I feel like. So here we are. Give yourself a new life. Jenk, where can they find you? Um, I'm on Facebook under Jennifer Gifford Warsland, Instagram, and TikTok, Thriving After Breast Cancer.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Jess, where can they find you? You can find me on Instagram at JessB.talkshelp. You can grab me at my website, b2bwithess.com. And I'm at my website, drkylieburton.com.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

This is pep talk, peptides unpacked. Thank you so much, Jen. Thank you for sharing your story.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Thank you for having me.