What is the Right CBD Dosage?

CBD has now become available in many different forms, from oils and tinctures to creams and even gummies. You can take CBD in various ways now, and each method has its own benefits. They have their own formulations, meaning it can have different dosages that depend on one’s particular use case. There isn’t a lot of research available at the moment on what dose of CBD that hits that fine balance between effect and safety.

If it’s pure CBD with little to no THC, then there should be no concern about unwanted psychoactive effects. However, even when it’s not psychoactive, CBD is still a potent cannabinoid that can have its own side effects, depending on your physiology. Therefore, it’s still imperative that a proper dosage be determined to avoid those side effects and ensure safety.

Let’s take a look at the factors that go into getting the right CBD dosage for you.

First, Talk to Your Doctor

It’s important to talk to your doctor before using CBD to address symptoms of a serious health condition. You may never know for sure if CBD will actually worsen your symptoms or interact with other medication you’re currently taking. While that may seem implausible as CBD is supposedly safe, everyone’s body is different and you can’t predict the future.

For instance, the only cannabis-derived medication that has been approved by the FDA, the anti-epileptic drug Epidiolex, has a starting dosage of 5 mg per kilogram of body weight once a day. It can then be increased to twice a day for greater effect. Other CBD products out there are not FDA-regulated, so they don't have official recommended dosages. Perhaps in the future, once the FDA finally gives them the attention they need, they’ll have clearer instructions.

Lack of Regulations

Since CBD isn’t regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration, you can expect some brands to make claims that are unproven and perhaps too good to be true. While CBD is touted as a much safer alternative to pharmaceutical drugs, this lack of regulation makes buying and trying CBD more like Russian roulette than a health practice.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that a number of people experienced negative side effects due to certain CBD products containing synthetic CBD, even if that was not indicated on their labels. Mislabeling is a fairly common problem with products like these because of that lack of proper regulation.

According to one study, 70% of CBD products sold online contained levels of THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis, that are much higher than what’s indicated on their labels. Federal law prohibits the sale of products containing more than 0.3% THC, and state laws may also have laws that may permit or prohibit products containing THC.

How Much Should You Take?

Dosages used in research studies tend to vary, with no consensus on what the most optimal dosages for specific conditions are. If you’re about to take your first plunge into CBD, do understand that there’s no universally agreed upon dose. Also, research suggests that individuals may respond differently to different dosages, depending on their current physical condition, therefore complicating things further.

If you really want to be sure about getting the exact dosage that’s best for you, use a CBD dosage calculator. It takes into consideration your body weight, use case, how much CBD you currently have on hand, and other factors in order to come up with the dosage you should take each day. It also depends on what you’re taking the CBD for and what your desired effect is. You can then inch your way towards the exact dosage that you’ll end up with.

Suggested CBD Dosages

While there’s no truly agreed upon dosages for CBD, there are suggestions on how much one can take for different conditions. It’s recommended to be prudent when it comes to taking these amounts. After all, these are suggestions, not recommendations.

If you’re still not sure, then you can take less than indicated here, then inch your way towards it. When the indicated dosage still doesn’t produce the desired effect, then you take a little bit more. Just make sure to try the new dosages after 24 hours, not immediately.

Based on different research studies on the following conditions, the suggested CBD dosages for them are the following:

• Anxiety: 300 to 600 mg
• Bowel disease: 10 mg per day
• Cancer-related pain: 50 to 600 mg per day
• Parkinson's disease: 75 to 300 mg per day
• Poor sleep: 25 mg per day
• Psychosis: 600 mg per day

A comprehensive review from 2020 has found that participants have shown anxiety relief after single doses of CBD ranging from 300 to 600 mg. That’s a major reason why CBD has created so much hype over recent years. It provides relief from both pain and anxiety with fewer side effects compared to other pharmaceutical options.

Start With a Low Dose

If your doctor doesn’t recommend a specific dose for you, start by taking 10 to 20 mg a day for a week. If that dose doesn’t have the desired effect, increase in increments of 5mg each week until you reach the dose with the desired effects. This may seem rather slow, but taking it nice and slow is to ensure safety, in case it may produce unwanted effects or trigger an allergic reaction in your body.

According to various studies, CBD dosages can vary from as low as 20 mg per day to as high as 1,500 mg per day. The World Health Organization reports dosages between 100 and 800 mg per day are cited in clinical research studies as the sweet spot for most people.

Is It Possible to Take Too Much?

Research has found 600 mg per day to be quite safe for most people, but doses up to 1,500 mg per day has been found by one study to be at the upper limit of safety. Perhaps taking more than that can yield some undesired side effects.

However, it’s important to note that research on CBD is still in its infancy, so it’s still not fully understood how taking “too much CBD” for a significant period of time can yield potential long-term side effects. What we can take from this is to treat CBD like any other drug and to be prudent with dosing it.

Conclusion

Upon deciding to give CBD a try to treat whatever ails you, whether acute or chronic, please take note that the amount you take will depend on various factors. Finding the right dosage takes trial and error, which is not ideal for medicine, but you should do alright as long as you start with a low dose and inch your way over time to that sweet spot.

You can start dialing in the right CBD dosage for you right now by trying out our CBD tinctures, available in both peppermint and tropical flavors that are yummy and good for you.