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CBD Dosage: How Much

Should You Take?
Bojana Jankovic Weatherly, M.D., F.A.C.P.,
By Lauren Perez
M.Sc. Internal Medicine / Integrative
Contributor
Medicine
Published: Aug 18, 2021, 9:35am

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Here’s how to find the right CBD dosage for you and how to consume it
safely.

Determining the Best CBD Dosage for You

With the exception of one CBD product, a prescription drug used to treat
seizures associated with particular syndromes, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) doesn’t regulate the use of CBD. (In fact, it’s illegal to
market CBD as a supplement or add it to food.) Therefore, it’s best to
consult a doctor with experience in CBD administration to determine your
ideal dosage.

Expressed in milligrams (mg), CBD dosage largely depends on the

conditions and symptoms you’re trying to treat and your unique
endocannabinoid system, which is associated with motor control, behavior,
emotions, the nervous system and homeostasis. CBD dosage remains an
area of active research—more large, high-quality studies are needed in
different populations to determine appropriate dosing, efficacy and safety
guidelines.

“It’s best to start small and gradually increase your dose up to a level that
gives you the desired effect,” says Cheryl Bugailiskis, M.D., a cannabis
specialist at Heally, a telehealth platform for alternative medicine. Your
starting point might look like half a CBD gummy or a drop of oil. Ideally,
navigate this process under the guidance of a qualified physician.

If you’re still not sure where to start, mydosage.com offers a questionnaire

and CBD calculator to help you based on your specific symptoms and usage
goals.

How to Calculate CBD Dosage

When you consume CBD gummies, capsules or softgels, dosage is typically

expressed per unit. For example, there may be 50 milligrams of CBD in each
individual gummy. These products don’t offer much dosage flexibility since
you can’t split up capsules easily. For instance, if one softgel capsule didn’t
provide your desired result, you would have to take another full capsule,
doubling the total dose.

CBD oil, on the other hand, makes it easier, to begin with a small dose. But
calculating CBD oil dosage can be less straightforward. Oils and tinctures
tend to come in a dropper bottle and, typically, only the total liquid volume
and CBD contents are listed on the label. For example, the label might
simply state there’s 1,500 milligrams of CBD in the 30-milliliter bottle.

But what does 1 milliliter look like? Due to the current lack of regulation of
CBD, this calculation can be tricky. Start by figuring out the volume of a
single drop in your dropper, which is usually 0.05 milliliters, according to
Dr. Bugailiskis. If you’re unsure, ask the company.

Here’s where math comes in. Let’s continue with the 30-milliliter bottle
with 1,500 milligrams of CBD and 0.05 milliliters in a single drop as our
example.

1500mg÷30mL = 50 mg/mL

This bottle contains 50 milligrams of CBD per milliliter. Let’s see how many
milligrams are in a drop:

50mg/mL ×0.05mL/drop = 2.5mg/drop

Each drop contains 2.5 milligrams of CBD.

Next, you can calculate how many drops you need to reach your goal
dosage. Let’s say you want to consume 25 milligrams each day.

25mg÷2.5mg/drop = 10 drops
10 drops ×2.5mg = 0.5mL

With this CBD oil dosage calculator as your guide, you would find that you
needed to consume 10 drops, or 0.5 milliliters, to reach 25 milligrams. And
if you intend to consume 25 milligrams daily, you can expect this particular
bottle to serve as a 60-day supply.

Some CBD products do some of this math for you and illustrate how many
milligrams are in a milliliter, some even marking these points on the
dropper so you know exactly what you’re taking.

CBD Dosage for Different Ailments

Without FDA approval, there is little guidance in the U.S. on how much
CBD a person should consume for various conditions.

In many medical studies on CBD, you see administered doses reach

hundreds of milligrams a day, which sounds severe compared to our
starting dosage example of 25 milligrams. However, Steven Phan, founder
of Come Back Daily, a CBD dispensary in New York, points out that patients
in these studies are often dealing with serious flare-ups and pain-inducing
conditions compared to everyday dispensary customers.

Below are clinically-studied CBD dosages based on different ailments and

conditions. Note: Some of the formulations studied contained THC as well—
not all available dosage research sticks strictly to CBD.

CONDITION DOSE*

300mg–600 milligrams a day[1]

Anxiety [2]

Starting at 2.5 milligrams per

kilogram of the person’s body
Select forms of epilepsy
weight twice daily [3]

A maximum of 30 milligrams a
Central neuropathic and cancer-related pain day (or 12 sprays) [4]

Opioid addiction 400 or 800 milligrams a day[5]

A maximum of 30 milligrams a
day (or 12 sprays), or 250
Arthritis
milligrams applied topically [4]

*Dosages are based solely on small, short-term clinical study results

where CBD proved significantly successful over placebo. Much larger
studies are needed to further strengthen the evidence.

FDA-approved Epidiolex administers CBD orally as a liquid to treat seizures

associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome and tuberous
sclerosis complex. The dosage of Epidiolex is determined by taking the
patient’s weight in kilograms (kg) into account.

Several countries, including Canada and those in the U.K., have approved
the use of Sativex, an oral spray with equal amounts of CBD and THC, to
treat pain stemming from multiple sclerosis. Canada has also approved it
for treatment of cancer pain.

The medical and research community still has a long way to go before
figuring out what dose works best for each condition. At an individual level,
consumers can experiment with caution until they find what works best for
them.

How to Take CBD

Popular ways to take CBD include:

Oils and tinctures (extracts of plant material dissolved in

ethanol): A liquid that comes in a bottle with a dropper

Gummies: A soft, chewable candy that’s often fruit-flavored

Sprays: A liquid that comes in a bottle with a nozzle for spraying

into the mouth
Capsules: Tablets or softgels that are ingested by mouth

Vapes: CBD oil that’s heated without ignition, resulting in an

inhalable vapor
Flower: Dried hemp plant that’s often ignited and smoked

Edibles: Any food that CBD oil has been added to, such as brownies
or chips
Drinks: Any beverage that’s infused with CBD, often in the form of
hemp extract

Your CBD product of choice will largely depend on your personal

preferences, as well as your budget since prices vary depending on the
potency of ingredients and manufacturing processes. Different mediums
also offer varying levels of bioavailability—or how much of what you take is
actually absorbed into your bloodstream to have an effect. For example, if
you ingest 10 milligrams of CBD via 1 milliliter of liquid, your body might
absorb about 60% of it, or about 6 milligrams.

Cannabinoids generally have a low bioavailability compared to other

substances, according to Jordan Tishler, M.D., a physician specializing in
cannabis treatment in Massachusetts. However, “products that contain
emulsifiers like egg yolk (brownies) or lecithin (some gummies) do better,”
he says.

With that said, ingesting CBD via gummies or other edibles may take longer
to take effect since the CBD has to travel to your digestive system to be
broken down and absorbed.

Can You Take Too Much CBD?

Like with any substance, you can take more CBD than your body can
handle. Studies show doses up to 1,500 milligrams a day have been well-
tolerated, but every person is different [7]. Ingesting too much CBD can
cause unpleasant side effects, such as dry mouth, nausea, diarrhea, upset
stomach, drowsiness, lightheadedness and general disorientation. While
rare, liver damage can also occur.

What’s more, CBD can have serious interactions with certain medications.
In evaluating available information on five prescription CBD-based
medications, researchers found 139 medications could have a potential
drug-drug interaction with CBD[8]. People who take certain blood thinners,
heart rhythm medications, thyroid medications and seizure medications
need to be particularly careful.

At the end of the day, not all supplements are created equal, which is why
it’s important to work alongside a healthcare provider when adding CBD to
your wellness regimen and research reliable brands. And while emerging
research and anecdotal evidence is promising, more large, randomized-
controlled trials are needed to further understand the benefits of CBD and
its dosing.

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Lauren Perez
Contributor

Lauren Perez, a freelance writer in New York City, believes in feeling good in your body and making that experience
accessible to everyone across generations. The proof is in her ever-piling browser tabs and newsletters, which help
her stay on top of the latest wellness trends. When she’s not researching sustainable alternatives to her everyday
products, Lauren is likely attempting to make a dent in her “TBR” book pile.

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