Work Out When Each Prescription Runs Out
Nobody runs out of medication by accident; they run out because the arithmetic was never done. This takes each medication's daily dose, the tablets per pack, and how many packs are on the shelf, and turns that into a run-out date plus an order-by date that allows for the pharmacy's lead time. It says nothing about whether a dose is right — only when the supply ends. Everything runs locally; nothing leaves the tab.
- Strip
- Days of cover, run-out date, and order-by date per medication
- local
- What it replaces
- Noticing the bottle is empty on the last day
- $0.00
- Input
- Daily dose, pack size, packs on hand, lead time
- no card
- Output
- Dated cover for every medication
- recomputed
What you pay otherwise
| Route | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency prescription | Out-of-hours or same-day charges | $20–$80 |
| A missed dose | For medication that must not be interrupted | a real risk |
| Pill-counting by hand | Different on every check, easy to get wrong | minutes daily |
| This page | Every run-out date on one strip | $0 |
The workflow
Enter the actual daily dose, including split doses
Twice-daily means the daily figure is two tablets, not one. Understating the dose overstates your cover, and the run-out date arrives earlier than the strip predicted — the one error that defeats the whole tool.
Count the packs on the shelf today, not last week
A partial pack is still a partial pack. Count what is actually there; a remembered count is how a two-week error creeps in.
Use your pharmacy's real lead time
Repeat prescriptions commonly take three to seven working days, and controlled medications can take longer. The order-by date is only useful if the lead time matches your pharmacy rather than a generic guess.
Order on the order-by date, not the run-out date
The two dates exist for a reason. Ordering on the day you run out guarantees a gap; ordering on the earlier date is the entire point of the calculation.
Worked example
Sample: 3 medications from 2026-09-12, 5-day lead time Atorvastatin 1/day, 28/pack, 2 packs 56 days out 2026-11-07 order by 2026-11-02 Metformin 2/day, 56/pack, 1 pack 28 days out 2026-10-10 order by 2026-10-05 Levothyroxine 1/day, 28/pack, 1 pack 28 days out 2026-10-10 order by 2026-10-05 Most urgent Metformin and Levothyroxine Uploaded nothing — computed in the tab
Numbers above are sample data produced by the tool's own pre-loaded example, run in the browser — not averages or measured benchmarks.
What breaks this
Entering one tablet a day for a twice-daily medication doubles the apparent cover and produces a run-out date that is simply wrong. Counting packs from memory rather than from the shelf. Using a generic lead time when your pharmacy takes longer for that particular medication.
Try it now
Three medications from today are loaded, the earliest running out on 2026-10-10. Reduce the Metformin pack count to a partial and watch its date pull in.
Open the planner →Go deeper: the printable strip
The planner is free forever. The $4 one-time tier adds:
- Printable strip — every run-out and order-by date on one fridge sheet — estimate: ~10 min saved re-checking bottles each week.
- Saved medications shelf — keep up to 12 medications in this browser — estimate: ~8 min saved re-entering them.
- Refill history log — record each order and recompute from it — estimate: ~12 min saved reconciling what arrived.