PARACETAMOL RELIEF TRACKER
A browser-based tool to track medication doses and compare illustrative timing curves for paracetamol and ibuprofen.
1. The "Why": Medication Tracking Made Simple
Managing medication schedules, especially for pain relief, can be challenging. The Paracetamol Relief Tracker was built to solve a practical problem: tracking doses, monitoring daily limits, and visualizing estimated medicine timing over time.
The core challenge is balancing effective pain management with safety limits. Paracetamol has strict daily maximums (typically 4000mg) and minimum intervals between doses (usually 4 hours). Without proper tracking, it's easy to lose track of when you last took a dose or how much you've consumed in a day.
The tracker keeps separate paracetamol and ibuprofen records, rolling 24-hour totals and minimum-interval reminders. Records persist in browser localStorage, not cookies. The tracker page does not load analytics; clearing site data removes the history.
2. The "How": Technical Implementation
Tech Stack
- Frontend: Pure HTML5, CSS3, and vanilla JavaScript
- Data Visualization: Chart.js for real-time charts
- Storage: Browser localStorage for persistence
- Framework: Astro for static site generation
Core Features
The graph uses illustrative absorption and elimination curves, with separate lines for each medicine and a dashed eight-hour projection. The page links to NHS guidance and product information and explains the assumptions. These curves show relative modelled levels, not measured blood levels or percentages of pain relief. “Stable” is an illustrative near-peak band, not a clinically established plateau.
Each medicine has its own dose amounts, minimum four-hour interval, rolling 24-hour milligram limit and dose-count limit. The usage chart shows separate calendar-day totals. Existing paracetamol records remain compatible.
3. User Experience & Safety
Adults can record the amount and time of doses already taken, correct records and delete them. A warning and confirmation appear when a record falls outside the standard guidance, so an actual overdose can still be recorded accurately. The tool is not a recommendation to take a dose. It explains suitability, interactions, packet limits and when to get urgent medical advice.
Storage errors are visible. If saved history cannot be read, recording is paused to protect it. Changes made in another tab refresh the displayed records. There is no account or cross-device synchronisation.
4. Try It Out
The application is available at /paracetamol. All functionality runs entirely in your browser, with no external dependencies beyond Chart.js loaded from a CDN. Your data never leaves your device.