How Much CBD Should I Take

There is no quick and easy answer because many factors come into play when determining each person’s dosage such as tolerance to CBD, weight, metabolism, symptoms, what you’re treating, etc. It’s all about finding your level and I cringe when I hear clerks tell people to start with a 1000 mg bottle and use a half a dropper full two to three times per day. It may be good for the company that they’re representing but isn’t necessarily what the consumer requires.

First, speak to your doctor before starting any form of plant medicine, including any supplements, they may impact medications that you’re currently taking. I found that out when I was taking supplements to help with a slow thyroid situation. My blood work kept coming back that I was within the “normal” range but I continued to feel like garbage and never mentioned to my Doctor that I was taking kelp and tyrosine. I decided to stop taking the supplements, subsequently, my blood work showed my thyroid was off so they adjusted my meds and suddenly I felt fabulous! Also, I am in no way offering any form of medical advice, just trying to help folks navigate the waters of CBD.

Many of you have spoken to me, read my blogs, or visited my website and know that I can’t stress enough the importance of starting low and slow, it should be my mantra. And yes, it may take you a bit longer to find your level, but you’ll be taking the proper dosage of CBD to treat your problem and not any extra. Why throw a nuclear bomb at a health issue when a grenade will do. Yes, it’s better for the company selling the CBD to see you come back more often to purchase their product, but I don’t think that way.

Some Basics

When you purchase a 30 ml bottle of CBD oil/tincture that contains 500 mgs, it means that there is a total of 500 mgs of CBD in the entire bottle. There are approximately 600 drops in each 30 ml bottle so each drop contains .833 of CBD, so you would need to consume approximately 10 drops to ingest 8.33 mgs of CBD.

Basic math aside, as you’ll see by the chart below, weight classes and mgs vary widely and are only suggested serving sizes and I think those are rather high. Many factors will play a role into whether three drops or thirty drops work for what you’re treating. Some days you may need more, some days less, there’s no hard fast rule when it comes to dosages. Again, CBD should be a slow journey, try three drops for three days, if you’re not seeing the relief you’re looking to achieve adjust your dose by another drop for three more days and so on. In my opinion, the dosage rates below represent the maximum dosage for each weight class/severity of symptoms, are approximations, and are dependent on the way that CBD is consumed.

For oil/tinctures, place your drops under your tongue and hold it there for 30 – 60 seconds and swallow. Placing the drops under your tongue allows the CBD to enter your bloodstream without going through your gastrointestinal system where it can be diluted.

The Chart

After doing lots of research, I came up with the chart below which represents the maximum dosage for CBD. As you can see, there are 50 to 100-pound ranges within each category so there’s lots of wiggle room if you also factor weight, other medications, supplements, metabolism, what you’re treating, etc.

There are many ways to get CBD into your body, I think two of the best options are vaping and sublingual drops/tinctures. I like the drops/tinctures over the vaping because with vaping many companies use fake flavorings, propylene glycol, and other chemicals. And while fake flavorings and propylene glycol are considered safe, I personally choose to avoid chemicals as much as possible.

A Word of Caution

Medical marijuana and CBD, in particular, are very safe, but if you take other medications you should check with your doctor about any potential drug interactions. If you’re taking a lot of CBD (look at the high end of the dosage chart for moderate effects and beyond) it will temporarily deactivate cytochrome P450 enzymes, thereby altering how you metabolize a wide range pharmaceutical compounds. CBD is a more potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 than the grapefruit compound Bergapten, so ask your doctor if grapefruit interacts with your medication. If grapefruit does, then CBD probably does, too. Here’s is a link to an article from Web MD about grapefruit and certain medications.

Learn more

Also, read the label, if the bottle of CBD you’re about to purchase is full of chemicals and sweeteners put it down and move on.

Bottom Line

On average, I take 8.33 mgs of CBD oil/tincture daily and that’s enough to help me with anxiety and degenerative disc disease. According to the chart above, I’m taking about half of what I should be taking and I’m fine with that. Some days I take more and some days I take less it depends on my symptoms, and I can definitely tell when I forget to take it and have to start all over again.

Also, I don’t like seeing CBD sold in lip balms, drinks, and food because you cannot monitor the amount of CBD that you’re ingesting. I do use topical CBD on my back and knee instead of using products like Ben-Gay, Tiger Balm, or BioFreeze because I believe in CBD and don't want the chemical ingredients from the other options going into my body.

Just remember, CBD is a personal journey and each person is like a fingerprint, so when a clerk in a health food store tells you to take a half a dropper full, it’s time to move on.

#CBD #health