What is the Right CBD Dosage?

What is the Right CBD Dosage: What the CBD Companies Say

CBD companies will sometimes put a recommended dosage on their product packaging. This dosage can range anywhere from 20mg to over 100mg per day. Some companies avoid recommending a dosage altogether.

Many companies recommend a certain CBD dosage assuming that most users are beginners. Others recommend dosages based on certain problems they assume their customers have (e.g. the dosage for a pain relief cream may be based on the assumption that the user suffers from moderate joint or muscle pain).

As you can see, the discrepancies here are pretty wide. Why do dosage recommendations between companies vary so much? It’s time we got down to the truth.

The Truth About Finding the Right CBD Dosage

The truth is, there is no established serving size or official recommended dosage for CBD. To make things more complicated, the “correct” dosage for one person will likely be quite different for another.

While this makes things a bit complicated, it doesn’t mean there’s no way to find the right CBD dosage. It just means you need to understand the correct dosage for you. Finding this out is not as simple as reading the side of a bottle, but it can be done in a number of ways.

Here are the factors you need to consider when determining your CBD dosage.

This may seem like a lot of work, but finding the right CBD dosage is actually quite simple, provided you do a little research beforehand. That’s where we come in.

Let’s take a more detailed look at how to find the right CBD dosage.

How to Determine Your CBD Dosage

Before you spend your hard-earned savings on a bunch of CBD products just to determine your dosage, take a look at these ways to estimate the proper CBD dosage for you. To get started on the right foot, consider the following factors.

​Your Condition

CBD is known to offer relief for a wide variety of conditions. Countless testimonies and scientific studies have validated its effects on pain, anxiety, depression, nausea, insomnia, digestive issues, seizures and more. But not all of these conditions are treated with the same dosage of CBD.

For example, small doses of CBD have been known to invigorate and improve focus, while large doses typically relax and induce sleep. Therefore, someone taking CBD for insomnia will require a different dosage than a physically similar person who uses CBD to reduce stress while at work.

People take CBD for a variety of reasons, and the conditions they seek treatment for have varying degrees of severity. Nevertheless, we have some basic guidelines on how much CBD to take for certain conditions.

These numbers are not exact by any means, but they will help you to start finding the right dosage and CBD product for your condition.

Your Weight

As you might suspect, your weight will affect how much CBD you need to take. Generally, if you weigh more, you’ll need to take more CBD.

But, this is not always the case. As CBD treats both physical and mental ailments, you’ll need to consider your condition as well. If you’re taking CBD for pain, your weight will play a much bigger role in determining your dosage than if you’re taking CBD for depression. Also, if you have a localized problem like Glaucoma, the amount of CBD you should take will not be related to your weight.

The best way to determine how much CBD you should take is to talk to your doctor. He or she will let you know if you need to take more or less CBD based on your weight.

Your Age

CBD and the other compounds found in hemp extract (commonly referred to as full-spectrum CBD) interact with your body’s endocannabinoid system to provide their purported benefits. This system is as integral to your health as any other body system (circulatory, muscular, etc.), and it is responsible for regulating a number of physiological and hormonal functions.

Why is this information important? Well, the receptors in our endocannabinoid system change as we age, which means that CBD affects us differently at different points in our lives. For this reason, a young person suffering from anxiety will likely react differently to CBD than an older person, even if they have the same condition and are physically similar.

In addition, this means that if you used CBD to treat your insomnia five years ago and you decide to use it again for the same condition now, you may find that you don’t feel the same when taking it.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to know how the aging process will alter the effect that CBD has on your system (though no negative effects have been reported by any age group). If you have used CBD or cannabis in the past and want to start using it again, we recommend starting with a small dose and treating it as if you’ve never used it before.

Your Experience With CBD

Have you taken CBD before? If you have, this could affect the way you feel upon taking CBD again. The World Health Organization has said that there is no evidence that CBD users develop a tolerance, which would lead them to increase their dosage over time to achieve the same effect.

Despite this, many users find that they need to take more CBD over time. This discrepancy arises from the fact that CBD effects everyone differently and that more research is necessary to understand the many ways it interacts with the body.

According to testimonies, CBD tolerance doesn’t work the same way a tolerance to a drug, like caffeine, works. Caffeine users must continually up their dosage to feel the “buzz” they once felt, and this can even lead to addiction. CBD, alternatively, seems to plateau after an initial “breaking-in” period.

CBD users who start by taking just 5-10mg a day may feel the need to up the dosage after a couple weeks to 15-25mg a day. A month later, they may decide to raise this again to 25-40mg a day. At this point, they may continue with this dosage for an extended period of time without the need to increase their intake.

Some users have a stronger reaction to small doses of CBD at the outset, but this appears to regulate as their body gets used to the supplement. If you haven’t taken CBD before, we recommend that you start with a small dose. If you have, you may want to start with a slightly higher dose (unless many years have passed since you last took CBD, as we discussed earlier).

The Way You Take CBD

There are a number of ways that you can consume CBD. The most common methods include:

Each method of consumption has a different rate of CBD absorption and each takes a different amount of time to affect the body. This can affect the CBD dose you need.

Edibles and capsules are the easiest ways to dose CBD, because you know exactly how much you are getting from each gummy, tablet, etc. But, because the CBD must travel through your stomach and digestive tract, there are a number of variables that can impede or assist CBD absorption.

For example, what you’ve eaten will affect how much CBD your body absorbs (it’s better to take CBD on a full stomach, and more CBD will be absorbed after eating healthy fats).

Sublingual oils and inhalable CBD products will affect you almost instantly, meaning you may require a smaller dose. Though these are more difficult to dose precisely, as liquid and vapor or smoke are not easy to quantify.

If you use vape oil or sublingual oil, you can use these methods to more accurately measure your dosage.

Sublingual oil

There are many different strength options to choose from when buying CBD oil, though they usually come in similarly sized bottles. This means that a 1ml dropper full of oil may contain anywhere from 5mg to hundreds of milligrams of CBD.

To understand how much CBD is in your 1ml dropper, you can use this equation:

Milligrams of CBD in the bottle  Capacity of bottle (ml) = Milligrams of CBD in 1ml dropper

Next, you may want to find out how much CBD is in each drop. To do so, use this equation:

Milligrams of CBD in dropper  20 (drops per milliliter, roughly) = Milligrams of CBD per drop

Once you know how much CBD is in each drop of oil, you’ll be able to measure your dosage with a good degree of accuracy.

Vape oil

Vape pens are equipped with a refillable vape oil chamber. The first thing you need to do is figure out how much oil this chamber holds.

To do this, start with an empty chamber. Next, use the equation in the above section to find out how many milligrams of CBD your dropper holds. Then, fill your chamber using the dropper.

Let’s imagine that your dropper holds 30mg of CBD. If the chamber holds 1.5 droppers of oil, then you know you have 45mg of CBD in the chamber.

This may not help you to understand how much CBD you’re inhaling with each drag, but it will help you accurately measure how much CBD you’re consuming each day.

If your vape oil chamber holds 45 mg of CBD and you want to take 25mg per day, then you can simply fill it about halfway full and vape consistently throughout the day to achieve your desired dose.

The ​Concentration of Your CBD

We mentioned this before, but it’s worth saying again. You can’t simply measure your CBD dosage in capsules, milliliters, drops or other methods such as this, because the concentration of CBD can vary greatly in similar products.

For example, one green gummy bear from one company may contain 5mg of CBD, while an identical bear from a different company may contain 50mg or even 150mg. For this reason, it’s very important to re-assess your CBD dosage each time you try a new CBD product.

For accurate dosing, always measure your dosage in milligrams of CBD and not in any other quantity.

The Way You Feel on CBD

When it comes to most conditions, the most important way to distinguish your CBD dosage is to observe the way you feel. The recommended dosage for pain for your body type might be 50mg, but if you ​need 75mg to feel relief, then that might be the correct dosage for you. ​​(​Always check with your doctor first​).

If you haven’t taken CBD before and are worried about how it will affect you, start by taking a small dose. This is easy to do, as you can purchase CBD products of different strengths and sizes.

Start by purchasing CBD oil that contains 250mg of CBD per bottle (this is normally the lowest dosage you can find), and take 1-3 drops. If the bottle holds 30ml of oil, then each drop will have less than 0.5mg or CBD. This will ensure a gentle start.

If you want to vape CBD, buy a 250mg bottle of vape oil and start with one drag. Wait for 10 minutes after the drag to allow yourself to feel the effects. If you don’t feel anything, increase your dosage to two drags and so on.

If you prefer edibles, start by purchasing a package of gummies (or chocolates, etc.) that contain 5mg of CBD each. If you want to be extra cautious, you can cut the gummies in half, though you probably won’t need to do this as the CBD in edibles will have a less immediate and more subdued effect on you.

Other forms of CBD like powders, drinks, and topical creams can be taken in small and large doses and are easy to measure. These are good products to start with.

Still others such as patches and suppositories must be taken all at once. You may want to wait to try these products until you’re familiar with a dose that you’re comfortable with. We recommend trying CBD oil or edibles first.

Find the Right CBD Dosage in 3 Easy Steps

We’ve covered a lot of information in this article, and it may seem like finding the right CBD dosage is harder than ever. Don’t worry! Our comprehensive look at CBD dosages covers just about everything, but for you to find out your own personal CBD dose, you can follow these three simple steps:

• Talk to your doctor: This is the first step to putting you on the right track. Your doctor can recommend everything from the type of CBD to take to the dosage to when and where you should take it.
• Choose your preferred CBD product: Whether it’s your choice or your doctor’s, choose a product from a 3^rd party tested, certified, and reputable CBD brand (like those reviewed on this site). You may want to choose two products (e.g. gummies and vape oil) depending on your reasons for taking CBD.
• Find your optimal dosage gradually: Start small and work up to a point where you feel relief. It may be helpful to keep a record of how much CBD you’re taking, the type of supplement (edible, oil, etc), and the brand in a notebook. This will help you remember the right dosages for certain CBD products, as they will not always be the same.

What is the right CBD dosage? This question is both complex and simple at the same time. In the future, studies will surely give us more information on how to properly dose CBD for different body types and conditions, but for now, this guide is your best bet at finding the right CBD dose for your lifestyle.

Disclaimer - Always check with a doctor before starting​ on a dietary supplement and the ​dosage