The popular fitness trainer says she has persuaded several people to stop taking the popular type 2 diabetes drug, which is often used for weight loss. (Photo: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)
Jillian Michaels is committed to encouraging her loved ones to stop taking Ozempic.
The former Biggest Loser trainer and celebrity fitness trainer, 48, shared that she has convinced several loved ones to stop taking the type 2 diabetes drug, which is gaining popularity as an off-label weight-loss treatment. Known by the generic name Semaglutide, the drug is sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus.
“I got at least eight parents of family friends off this drug,” Michaels told People. “They get palpitations, they’re sick, they feel like shit. They feel so terrible that it motivates them to reverse their type 2 diabetes.”
Ozempic is taken as an injection once a week and is used to control blood sugar levels in adults. While the drug’s website states that it is “not intended for weight loss,” it mentions that it “may help you lose weight” and that adults taking Ozempic have lost up to 14 pounds. In addition to the potential side effects people may experience when taking Ozempic, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation, Michaels believes the drug causes weight gain when someone stops taking it.
“Once they stop the drug, it creates the rebound effect,” she explained. “So you don’t gain anything. You stop the drug in a year and go all the way back. You haven’t learned anything. They have not built physical strength or endurance. They haven’t learned how to eat healthy.”
Influencer Remi Bader, who was prescribed Ozempic 2020, also commented on the rebound effect of the drug. She previously said she ended up “doubling the weight back” after stopping the medication she was prescribed because she was prediabetic. When she stopped taking it, her binge eating got worse.
Ultimately, Michaels wants to encourage people to educate themselves about the drug before taking it.
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“The truth is that Ozempic has some pretty significant side effects. Do your homework. The results are mostly temporary,” she concluded.
Ozempic has become a viral sensation in Hollywood and beyond. Comedian Chelsea Handler previously shared that she was unknowingly prescribed the drug and only questioned it when she became nauseous.
“Well, my antiaging doctor just hands it out to everyone,” Handler shared on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “I didn’t even know I was in it. She said, ‘If you ever want to lose five pounds, that’s fine.'”
The drug has also skyrocketed on social media. On TikTok, the hashtag #ozempic has 508.9 million views, with hashtag #ozempicweightloss lagging behind with 189.4 million views, Men’s Health reported. But due to its increasing popularity, some people taking the drug to treat diabetes find it out of stock. It has since been placed on the Food and Drug Administration’s current drug shortage list, as has Wegovy.
In addition to the side effects already mentioned, the term “Ozempic Face” has become a common term to describe the hollow, sagging appearance that one may experience after rapid facial weight loss as a result of taking the drug.
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