Side effects
The Wegovy pill and the gallbladder
The label counts gallstones among the risks, and gives the tablet its own number: 2.5 percent of people on the tablets reported gallstones against 1 percent on placebo. The Medication Guide names the signs to call about: pain in the upper stomach, yellow skin or eyes, fever, clay colored stools.
DM, the one who read the label
Sources checked Sep 28, 2026
Published Oct 19, 2026
Updated Sep 28, 2026 · 1 min read
The short answer
The label counts gallstones among the risks, and gives the tablet its own number: 2.5 percent of people on the tablets reported gallstones against 1 percent on placebo. The Medication Guide names the signs to call about: pain in the upper stomach, yellow skin or eyes, fever, clay colored stools.
What the label says
The gallbladder has its own warning, and it is one of the few where the label reports a number for the tablet specifically.
From the labelTreatment with WEGOVY is associated with an increased occurrence of cholelithiasis and cholecystitis. In randomized clinical trials in adults for weight reduction, cholelithiasis was reported by 1.6% of WEGOVY injection-treated patients and 0.7% of placebo injection-treated patients, and by 2.5% of WEGOVY tablet-treated patients and 1% of placebo tablet-treated patients.
Cholelithiasis is gallstones; cholecystitis is an inflamed gallbladder. The tablet's figure is one person in forty, against one in a hundred without the drug.
What the Medication Guide says to watch for
From the labelWEGOVY may cause gallbladder problems including gallstones. Some gallbladder problems need surgery. Call your healthcare provider if you have any of the following symptoms: pain in your upper stomach (abdomen), yellowing of skin or eyes (jaundice), fever, clay-colored stools.
Four signs, one instruction. The guide does not ask you to work out which organ is complaining; it asks you to call.
What people actually do
Gallbladder stories on the forums are rarer than nausea stories and more serious: a night of pain under the right ribs, an ultrasound, sometimes a surgery. What people describe missing is the connection, because the pain came weeks after the tablet became routine and did not feel like a side effect. The label's number says it belongs on the list, and the guide's four signs are the ones to know before they happen.
The other pattern is confusing gallbladder pain with the everyday stomach effects, which is why the guide lists the signs rather than asking anyone to judge the pain.
Oolite prints the Medication Guide's signs in the app, word for word, and keeps a dated journal so that a pain that returns has a timeline at the appointment.
Questions people ask
Is the risk higher on the tablet than the injection?
The label's figures are 2.5 percent versus 1 percent on placebo for the tablets, and 1.6 percent versus 0.7 percent for the injection. Both show more gallstones on the drug; the tablet trial's figures are a little higher, and the label does not draw a comparison between the two.
Why would a tablet for the pill cause gallstones?
The label does not explain the mechanism on this line. Gallstones are more common during fast weight loss in general, and the label lists the effect as associated with treatment.
What are the signs?
From the Medication Guide: pain in your upper stomach, yellowing of the skin or eyes, fever, and clay colored stools. It says to call your healthcare provider if you have any of them.
How is this different from the pancreatitis warning?
The pancreatitis sign is severe stomach pain that will not go away, sometimes felt through to the back, and the guide says to stop and call right away. The gallbladder signs are the four above. Both are calls; the guide gives the pancreatitis one more urgency.
Sources
- Wegovy prescribing information, Novo Nordisk, §5.3, revised 06/2026 · Cholelithiasis reported by 2.5 percent of tablet-treated patients and 1 percent of placebo tablet-treated patients; 1.6 vs 0.7 percent for the injection; cholecystitis 0.6 vs 0.2 percent on the injection.
- Wegovy Medication Guide, Novo Nordisk, revised 06/2026 · Gallbladder problems including gallstones; some need surgery; signs to call about.
Sources checked Sep 28, 2026. This page is information, not medical advice: read the medical disclaimer, and talk to your prescriber or pharmacist about your own treatment.
Written by
DM, the one who read the label
I make Oolite. I read every label revision the day it comes out and rewrite these answers when they change.
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