Jillian Michaels Convinced 8 Friends to Stop Taking 'Dangerous' Ozempic Because of Rebound Effect

Jillian Michaels is setting the record straight about why she's not a fan of Ozempic.

The fitness trainer, 48, recently spoke to PEOPLE about how she convinced several loved ones to stop taking Ozempic, an FDA-approved prescription medication for people with type 2 diabetes. It's one of the brand names for semaglutide, which works in the brain to impact satiety.

"I have taken at least eight family friends' parents off of this drug," Michaels tells PEOPLE, noting the side effects that they've experienced while on the medication. "They're getting heart palpitations, they're nauseous, they feel like s—. They feel so awful that it's motivated them to reverse their type 2 diabetes."

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Taken once a week by injection in the thigh, stomach or arm, the medication has recently been trending on social media and some people have used it for weight loss, even though they don't have diabetes or clinical obesity.

The most common side effects with Ozempic are nausea and diarrhea, and sometimes it can cause vomiting or constipation, Ania Jastreboff, M.D., PhD., an obesity medicine physician scientist at Yale University, previously told PEOPLE.

Gary Gershoff/Getty Images Jillian Michaels

RELATED: Ozempic Rebound Is Real: Doctor Says Weight Gain Can Be 'Devastating' After Stopping

Michaels also explained that she doesn't like the Ozempic trend because of the rebound weight gain that can occur if the medication is stopped.

"Once they get off of the drug, it does the rebound effect," she says. "So you're not gaining anything. You get off the drug in a year and go all the way back. You've not learned anything. You've not built any physical strength or endurance. You haven't learned how to eat healthy."

According to Jastreboff, for those who use drugs like Ozempic — or its counterpart Wegovy, which is prescribed for clinical obesity — they have to continue taking the medications if they want to maintain the weight loss because diabetes and obesity are chronic conditions.

Getty Man preparing semaglutide Ozempic injection

Michaels urges people to do their research on Ozempic and avoid misusing the medication. She explained that after convincing her family friends to stop taking it, she guided them toward making other lifestyle changes, including walking 10,000 steps each day and removing processed flour and sugar from their diets.

"The truth of the matter is, Ozempic has some pretty significant side effects. Do your homework on it. The results are not lasting, in very large part," Michaels adds.