CBD Dosage : CBD’s efficacy for a mixed bag of ailments has ignited a storm of CBD-infused treats at grocery stores (in some places) and enticing libations swimming with Cannabidiol. But, like many of those seeking relief through medical marijuana, there is little guidance available to point people toward correct dosing strategies.
How people use marijuana to treat themselves has been a long precursor to this predicament with CBD. In ten states, marijuana for recreational use is legal, as long as you’re 21 years of age. And in 32 states, marijuana can be used medically, with a physician’s prescription, which is relatively painless to obtain.
But after getting approved for a medical marijuana card—which in some cases, can be done easily online, without even seeing a physician—patients aren’t typically given instructions for a certain weight or mg dosage per day—the process of finding one’s appropriate dose is relatively blind, leaving those trying cannabis for the first time with research via an often incorrect internet or salespeople speaking from personal experience.
The narrative is now the same for CBD. Those turning to Cannabidiol, seeking relief from ailments while avoiding the intoxicating and addictive cannabinoid, THC, are blindly estimating their dosages from the companies selling the product to them, or worse—taking advice from friends or family expelling faulty information.
The internet is a tangled web to unweave, and many searching the internet for legitimate information leave more confused than when they began their search.
Since CBD isn’t FDA-approved, they haven’t stepped in to ease the matter either. The FDA has not created an RDI (recommended daily intake) for CBD, and no official “serving size” is tethered to Cannabidiol.
Even with miles of studies showing CBD’s healing properties for different conditions, patients are left to fend for themselves and very often start with too much or too little. It has become figure-it-out-for-yourself dosing mayhem.
There may yet be hope, though. With a bit of strategy, you can find a CBD dose that works for you.
What Does CBD Dosing Depend Upon?
CBD is available in multifarious forms, and common ways to take CBD are by way of tinctures (oil droppers), edibles, pills, and inhalation through a vaporizer. And like prescription medications, doses for CBD are not one-size-fits-all. The amount of CBD an individual consumes is dependent upon a range of things:
– The form of CBD (pill, oil, etc..)
– The concentration of the CBD
– The severity of the condition being treated
– The individual’s weight
– The individual’s biochemistry
For example, if a friend that’s twice your weight who takes it for seizures, swears by, and encourages a certain dose, it would be unwise to match the dosage of your friend as body weight plays a significant role in the efficacy of Cannabidiol. And similar to prescription medications, you may find that a specified dose is ineffective or maybe too much, which will require amendments.
How to Know How Much CBD is in a Drop
The most popular route for CBD is via tincture (oil dropper), which comes in varying sizes and concentrations. To figure out how much CBD you’re actually getting per serving can be a bit of a tedious process, as the mg of CBD per bottle vary and determining the quantity of CBD takes some math—one could purchase a 30mL bottle of CBD oil containing 300mg, 500mg, 1000mg, 1500 mg, or even 3000mg of CBD. Nearly every bottle of CBD lists the serving size as one full dropper, with 30 servings per container—but dropper sizes can vary, too.
One single drop out of a dropper equates to approximately 0.05mg of CBD—in a 300mg bottle. Twenty drops of CBD oil equates to roughly 1mL, so 20 drops of CBD out of a 300mg, 30mL bottle would add up to around 10mg of CBD. But in a 500mg bottle, one drop of CBD oil contains approximately 0.83mg of CBD, and an entire dropper full would give you about 17mg of CBD—a potentially high dose for someone just starting with CBD.
And imagine how much CBD you’d be taking if you bought a 3,000mg, 30mL bottle of CBD and consumed an entire dropper full—you’d be consuming ten times the amount of the 300mg bottle—100 mg of CBD.
Here are some more examples of how much CBD you’ll get out of 1oz, 30mL bottle of CBD:
1mL (1 dropper/20 drops), 300mg bottle: approximately 10 mg CBD
1mL (1 dropper/20 drops), 500mg bottle: approximately 17 mg CBD
1mL (1 dropper/20 drops), 600mg bottle: approximately 20 mg CBD
1mL (1 dropper/20 drops), 1,000mg bottle: approximately 33.5 mg CBD
1mL (1 dropper/20 drops), 3,000mg bottle: approximately 100 mg CBD
Estimated CBD Serving Size By Condition and Weight
It’s recommended for anyone trying CBD for the first time to start with a bare minimum dose (1-3 mg) and work their way up to their anticipated needs depending on their weight and condition. As with anyone, one’s individual biology will determine the efficacy of CBD.
Everywhere you look, the advice regarding dose is “speak to your physician to determine if you should take CBD (and speak to your physician regarding how much CBD you should take).”
The only problem is, most physicians are not familiar with CBD. The reason is that there are hardly any studies on CBD dosage, other than the ones that were done for certain juvenile seizures. So with that in mind, let’s look at the general consensus on dosing recommendations, based on people’s experiences.
CBD dosage: Below is the recommended amount per weight and condition to take per day.
EPILEPSY: 200-300mg
(Lower dosing has been shown to be effective as well. Speak to your physician.)
INSOMNIA: 40-160 mg
CBD Dosage: Mild Pain:
51-100 lbs: 6-8 mg
101-150 lbs: 8-12 mg
151-230 lbs: 12-15mg
Over 230 lbs: 15-30 mg
CBD Dosage: Moderate Pain:
51-100 lbs: 9-12 mg
101-150 lbs: 13-15 mg
151-230 lbs: 16-30mg
Over 230 lbs: 31-50 mg
CBD Dosage: Severe Pain:
51-100 lbs: 12-15 mg
101-150 lbs: 16-30 mg
151-230 lbs: 31-50mg
Over 230 lbs: 50+ mg
CBD Dosage: Mild Depression or Anxiety:
51-100 lbs: 2-4 mg
101-150 lbs: 3-5 mg
151-230 lbs: 6-8mg
Over 230 lbs: 10mg or less
CBD Dosage: Moderate Depression or Anxiety
51-100 lbs: 5 mg
101-150 lbs: 6-8 mg
151-230 lbs: 9-12 mg
Over 230 lbs: 15 mg or less
CBD Dosage: Severe Depression or Anxiety
51-100 lbs: 6-7 mg
101-150 lbs: 8-10 mg
151-230 lbs: 12-15 mg
Over 230 lbs: 15+ mg
Doctor Mike Hansen, MD
Internal Medicine | Pulmonary Disease | Critical Care Medicine
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