What the tablet evidence shows
The UK label puts nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain and indigestion in its most frequent category. Headache and tiredness sit in the same category. These frequencies come from study groups. They do not predict whether you personally will get a symptom.
The label pools data from oral and injected semaglutide and states where each frequency comes from. It also gives digestive side-effect data specific to tablets from the OASIS 4 trial. Not every frequency in the wider semaglutide safety data was measured in tablet users.
Symptoms needing urgent help
Severe abdominal pain that will not go away, especially pain spreading to your back, needs urgent assessment for possible pancreatitis. If pancreatitis is suspected, stop the medicine and get medical advice straight away. Sudden loss of vision, even partial, also needs urgent assessment. Semaglutide carries a warning about NAION.
Severe allergic symptoms such as difficulty breathing, a swelling throat or passing out are an emergency. Call 999 in the UK. Repeated vomiting, being unable to keep fluids down, marked dizziness or passing little urine need prompt clinical advice, because dehydration can become dangerous.
Describe the symptom in detail
Tell your clinical team when the symptom started, how bad it is, whether it followed a dose increase and what you can still eat or drink. With abdominal pain, say where it hurts and whether it persists. With diarrhoea or vomiting, say how often and whether you keep fluids down. A short timeline helps far more than "the medicine is making me ill".
A new symptom may have another cause. Infection, another medicine and unrelated illness all look similar. Do not dismiss a serious symptom because digestive effects are common, either. The same broad symptom means different things depending on its severity and what comes with it.
Report a suspected reaction once you have care
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme takes reports of suspected side effects from medicines. You do not need proof the medicine caused the problem. Reports help monitor safety after a medicine is approved. Yellow Card gives no medical or emergency advice, so get care first.
Note the medicine name, form, strength, batch number and dates if you have them. List your other medicines and relevant health conditions. A suspected reaction shapes future prescribing, so make sure your GP and the prescribing service both have a clear record, especially if your care is split between the NHS and a private provider.
How often a side effect happens and how serious it is are two separate measures. A common symptom becomes serious if it stops you drinking. A rare event needs urgent action because of what it leads to. Read both parts of the leaflet together: how often events were reported, and which symptoms need help straight away.
Questions for your appointment
Ask which symptoms mean you should call the same day, what to do before your next dose and how a planned dose increase will be reviewed if symptoms continue. Make sure you know whom to contact outside the provider's normal opening hours.
Sources
Your own medicine leaflet and prescriber come first. A source from another country does not mean the same rule applies in the UK.
- Wegovy pill UK Summary of Product Characteristics medicines.org.uk
- Wegovy pill UK patient information leaflet medicines.org.uk
- MHRA UK authorisation announcement gov.uk
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