A woman from Northern Ireland has revealed the extremely unexpected side effect she had after she took a weight-loss drug.
Keep reading to know more.
A 32-year-old woman has spoken out after what started as a weight-loss plan using Wegovy turned into a series of alarming health issues—including waking up with a black tongue.
Sarah-Jayne Crawford began taking the injections in August 2024 after reaching 275lb. Hoping to slim down before her wedding in November 2025, she ordered a month’s supply online, starting on a 0.25mg dose.
At first, things seemed to be going as expected.
“Wegovy was my last resort. I know a lot of people who are on the jabs and it worked like a dream for them,” said Sarah, a personal secretary for the NHS from Antrim, Northern Ireland.
“I had been battling my weight for what felt like forever and I was dying to slim before my wedding, but dieting, exercising and starving myself never worked. Before, I had heard stories about the dangers and my friend even joked about gallstones.”
After 12 weeks—and increasing her dosage to 1mg—Sarah began experiencing serious symptoms.
She developed sharp stomach pains, frequent vomiting, and what she described as unbearable discomfort that left her unable to leave her bed.
“But when the pain left me unable to leave my bed I knew something was up. The black tongue seemed like a cherry on top and a warning of what was to come.
“Never did I think this would happen to me.”
Within a 24-hour period, things escalated even further.
“It all happened so quickly,” Sarah said. “It went from really sharp pains that were enough to leave me bed bound. To having sulphur burps, that smelt of egg, and a black tongue. It was terrible.”
She also said the pain became so intense it impacted her ability to function day-to-day.
“I have a child, so it was very difficult to take time off work. But the pain was so unbearable I couldn’t walk. I would rather give birth to five kids at the same time than go through with the pain again.”
Fearing something serious, Sarah went to the hospital where scans revealed multiple gallstones blocking her bile duct, as well as diverticulitis.
She immediately stopped taking the injections and was later scheduled for surgery to remove her gallbladder.
“By this point, I was 18 stone and had hardly lost any weight,” she said. “The procedure was about an hour and I cracked on with the recovery. I’m slowly transitioning back to normal and eating more food now, but I’m still far from normal.”
One of the most unusual symptoms was her tongue turning black, which left her especially confused.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy) can cause dry mouth, bad breath, and sulphur-smelling burps due to slowed digestion, and may contribute to a black-coated tongue.
Since stopping the injections in December 2024, Sarah’s tongue has returned to its normal color.
Now recovering, she’s sharing her experience to warn others about potential risks.
A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy, issued a statement following Sarah’s experience:
“Patient safety is of the utmost importance to us at Novo Nordisk. To ensure healthcare professionals have a detailed understanding of our medicine’s safety profile, the adverse reactions we have observed in clinical trials are detailed in our medicine’s Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC).
“In the registrational trials for this medicine, cholelithiasis (acute gallstone disease) was reported in 1.6% of patients and led to cholecystitis in 0.6% of people living with obesity treated with semaglutide 2.4 mg.
“For this reason, acute gallstone disease (cholelithiasis) is listed as a “common” potential adverse reaction for Wegovy (semaglutide injection) in the product’s UK SmPC and should be considered when patients are being evaluated for this medicine.
“As part of this work we also monitor reports of adverse drug reactions through routine pharmacovigilance.”
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