The reason you can't lay down after taking potassium pills is because you can end up siting in your stomach longer and causing irritation.
Do not lie down for at least 10 minutes after taking the potassium pills.
Do not crush, chew, or suck on the tablets.
Doing so can release all of the drug at once, increasing the risk of side effects.
After taking a pill it can take around 1 hour to 2 hours for the pill to be absorbed into your system.
Pills are usually absorbed into the blood through the stomach walls after it is swallowed and these can become active in a few minutes but usually take an hour or two to reach the highest concentration in the blood.
IV drugs are injected directly into the blood work much faster and sometimes in seconds or minutes.
In general, it typically takes approximately 30 minutes for most medications to dissolve.
When a medication is coated in a special coating which may help protect the drug from stomach acids often times it may take longer for the therapeutic to reach the bloodstream.
A standard gelatin hard capsule dissolves in the stomach, under normal conditions, within twenty to thirty minutes after swallowing.
Depending on the application, different gelatin types or additional process steps can influence the dissolution process.
Do not lie down immediately after taking a pill.
Doing so will result in the medicine being stuck within the insides of your throat.
If this happens, the capsule/tablet could break apart before reaching the stomach.
Matters could even get worse if the tiny pieces of medicine end up damaging the insides of your throat.