Potassium bicarbonate 500mg capsules
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Potassium bicarbonate is a white, crystalline, slightly alkaline and salty substance.
Safety information for pregnancy and breastfeeding
Pregnancy
Always consult your doctor or midwife before taking any medicine during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Source: DrugBank (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Potassium bicarbonate
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Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
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Browse substances A–Z in the European adverse reaction database
About EudraVigilance
Learn about EU pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring
EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
1 branded products available
WHO defined daily dose (DDD)
4 gram
Not a recommended dose. The DDD is the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. It is a statistical measure used for research and comparison purposes only.
Source: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, distributed via NHS dm+d BNF mapping files. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and NHS BNF section grouping. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Clinical guidelines and formulary information
British National Formulary
Potassium bicarbonate
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
NICE clinical guidance(7)
Slow-release potassium bicarbonate–potassium citrate for treating distal renal tubular acidosis (terminated appraisal) (TA838)
Diabetes (type 1 and type 2) in children and young people: diagnosis and management (NG18)
Chronic kidney disease: assessment and management (NG203)
Acute kidney injury: prevention, detection and management (NG148)
i STAT CG4+ and CHEM8+ cartridges for point-of-care testing in the emergency department (MIB38)
The NxStage System One NX1000‑1 home haemodialysis device for renal replacement therapy in chronic kidney disease (MIB12)
Type 1 diabetes in adults: diagnosis and management (NG17)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & product information
Official product databases and supply status monitoring
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. emc (electronic medicines compendium) is operated by Datapharm Ltd. Shortage information sourced from NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS), sps.nhs.uk.
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF codes from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
7 hours
Mechanism
The antacid potential of potassium bicarbonate is attained by increasing the gas…
Food interactions
3 warnings
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
90%
[A32222]…
Half-life
7 hours
[A32222]
Elimination
90%
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
[L1837]
An antacid is a medication used to neutralize gastric acid in a short timeframe after ingestion and the effect is soon overcome by meal-stimulated acid secretion.
[A32214]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 881 interactions
[L1837]
Potassium bicarbonate is also considered safe in pregnancy as the current data do not suggest a teratogenic potential or any developmental toxicity.T142
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[A32222]
[A32222]
[A32222]
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:16669787 PMID:32081947 PMID:32294086 PMID:33597714 PMID:35585053 PMID:36239040 PMID:36306358 PMID:7629105
Plays a vital role in the regulation of ionic balance and cell volume PMID:16669787 PMID:32081947 PMID:32294086 PMID:7629105
PMID:21321328
Electrically silent transporter system (By similarity)
ATC A12BA04
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Show
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Potassium bicarbonate
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
9402
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
6485
ChemSpider
55053
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10911
GenAtlas
SLC12A2
GeneCards
SLC12A2
GenBank Gene Database
U30246
GenBank Protein Database
903682
Guide to Pharmacology
969
UniProt Accession
S12A2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10910
GenAtlas
SLC12A1
GeneCards
SLC12A1
GenBank Gene Database
U58130
GenBank Protein Database
1373425
Guide to Pharmacology
968
UniProt Accession
S12A1_HUMAN
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications: