CBD Dosage

CBD is one of the most well-known cannabis products. In contrast to the related substance, THC, CBD is not psychoactive, nor does it cause intoxication or addiction. Nevertheless, there are a few guidelines regarding CBD dosage which are worth bearing in mind. Manufacturers and sellers of these products are only allowed to give recommendations for consumption, rather than dosage instructions. In fact, fragrance oils are not even (officially) approved for consumption. This naturally causes problems when dosing cannabidiol.

When it comes to this matter, users are on their own. Affiliate sites and tables of dubious provenance can be found on the internet, but these are not of a particularly scientific nature. We would therefore like to provide you with an advertisement-free explanation of CBD dosage, instructions and, most importantly, our specially developed dosage calculator. Our hope is that this will be of use to all users – no matter the product in question.

Find the right daily dose of CBD!

The effect of CBD on the human body is related to the dose of CBD taken. The amount which will achieve the best results in the case of a particular individual varies from person to person. The ideal dose depends on a number of different factors. These include:

• weight
• genetic predisposition
• body chemistry
• general physical condition.

The purpose of this guide to cannabidiol dosage is to give the readers some useful hints. These especially concern working out what CBD dosage you should start at and how to find the dose which is optimal for you personally.

Therefore, we will first of all look at three simple principles which can be followed when taking CBD.

Three simple principles for CBD oil dosage

Before embarking on the process of finding the dose which is optimal for you, you should make sure that you have examined and understood three fundamentally important principles concerning CBD dosage (cannabidiol).

The first principle says:

• There is no standard dose of CBD which works for everyone. It is perfectly possible that some users will achieve satisfactory results with a dose of just one milligram of CBD per day. At the other extreme, however, there are those who only manage to achieve the effects they are after once they have started taking 100 milligrams of CBD per day. Finding the ideal individual dosage of CBD oil usually involves some trial and error.

The second principle states:

• That taking the right CBD dose is fundamentally important to the success of a CBD-based treatment. All too often, unfortunately, people believe that simply taking a few drops of CBD is enough, and that the desired effect will then automatically happen. This is not the case. Experts regard dosing too low and too high to be the biggest mistakes made by newcomers to CBD. It is therefore not unknown for people to become frustrated and stop using cannabidiol, believing that CBD just doesn’t work for them, and not realising that they have simply been taking the wrong dose. All that is needed in such cases is a clearly structured approach to finding one’s own optimal dose.

The third CBD dosing principle:

• Is to start slowly, with a low dose. Having begun, it usually makes sense to gradually increase the dosage over an extended period of time. At some point you will find out what the best quantity of CBD is in your particular case. Patience plays an important role during this process. Even amongst members of the same family, it is possible for the effects of CBD to be felt far more rapidly by one family member than by another. In such cases, just keep on trying out different doses until you find the one that works well for you.

How can you work out what the optimal dose is?

As already mentioned, dosing CBD too low or too high can reduce the likelihood of achieving a good outcome. If the dose is too low, you may not feel anything, whilst if it is too high, undesired effects and outcomes may result (side effects). These include headaches, nausea and a worsening of the symptoms which you are actually trying to improve by taking CBD. The aim of exploring dosages is to find the amount of CBD which gives the best results in your particular case. In the graph below, you can see how individual sensitivity develops as the dose is increased. In the middle, similarly to a Gaussian bell curve, the probable optimal dose has been obtained.

One question which also keeps on coming up is: “What is the right daily dose of CBD for me?” This is a complex matter. Generally speaking, the term “daily dose” is used to refer to the amount of a medicine which is administered within a period of 24 hours.
The first step is to find out how much CBD your product contains, how much there is per drop and then what your current intake is.

CBD percentage calculator

The first step to take before actually starting the calculation is to determine the strength of the CBD oil you are using by finding out what its concentration is. As a rule, this appears on the bottle somewhere. Generally, it will look something like this:

• 5% CBD oil
• 10% CBD oil
• 1000 mg CBD
• etc.

Unfortunately, this can cause a lot of confusion. 30 ml of a 5% CBD oil contains 1,500 mg CBD – or at least it should do! Less scrupulous manufacturers like to take advantage of people’s confusion concerning these matters. We have therefore created a handy CBD percentage calculator or CBD MG calculator, which you can use to help you answer the following questions:

• How many mg of CBD does my CBD oil contain?
• What percentage CBD does my product contain?
• How much CBD is in my oil?

The calculations can be done in either direction. If only the volume in millilitres (ml) and the CBD content in milligrams (mg) are indicated on the bottle, you can use the CBD percentage calculator to calculate what percentage (%) of CBD this corresponds to.

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CannaTrust CBD milligram calculator

In some cases, however, you know the percentage of CBD contained in the mixture as well as the total volume in millilitres (ml) but you would like to know how much CBD the product contains in total in milligrams (mg). To do this, you can use the CannaTrust CBD milligram calculator (MG calculator)!

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CBD dosage table

Just as there is no one right dose of cannabidiol which works for everyone, there is also no standard way to work out the amount which works in individual cases either. Generally speaking, there are a couple of different approaches. Success is possible with both. However, people need to decide which approach to take for themselves. It should also be made clear that both approaches are merely suggestions and do not constitute medical advice. Whichever method you choose, you should be aware that the size of the CBD dose should always be determined by experiment and, if necessary, should always be adapted to changes in lifestyle.

Variant 1: Microdosing CBD

The first approach is known as “microdosing”. This popular and above all cost-effective option will require a bit of your time for a few days. You will need to pay attention to your body, and you will need an average of two to three days during which you will be relatively undisturbed. At the beginning of the process, you take one single drop of CBD oil. You then wait for 45 minutes and see whether any physical changes occur, and if so, what they are. If you don’t notice any changes, you take another drop.

You keep on doing this until you notice that the CBD is having an effect. The total number of drops taken in the last 4 hours before you feel an CBD effect is your ideal dose. Having established this fact you can take this amount all at once and readjust the dose if necessary. If a CBD oil with a low concentration is used for this self-experimentation, it may also make sense either to take several drops at once or simply switch to a higher potency cannabidiol product.

Microdosing can also be carried out over a period of days. To do so, just take 1 drop three times a day for 3 days. Then increase the dose by one drop to 2 drops three times a day for three days. You carry on like this until you (hopefully) achieve the desired effect
CBD dosage – every drop counts!

Variant 2: Leinow and Birnbaum’s dosage table

CBD is a natural active substance derived from the cannabis plant. The basic approach for most instructions on CBD dosage derive from the book “CBD: A Patient’s Guide To Medical Cannabis” by Leonard Leinow and Juliana Birnbaum.

The authors of this very comprehensive work divide CBD dosages into 3 subcategories:

• micro doses: range from 0.5 mg CBD to 20 mg CBD per day
• standard doses: range from 10 mg CBD to 100 mg CBD per day
• macro doses, or therapeutic doses: start at 50 mg CBD per day and range up to 800 mg CBD per day

Due to variations in density and viscosity (pipette), a 1:1 conversion is not 100% accurate. Therefore, you should always pay attention to the CBD content of your product, as well as to the volume in ml rather than the number of drops. Nevertheless, the dosage table provided by Leinow and Birnbaum is the most scientifically rigorous method currently in existence. This also gives you an idea of how much CBD you should take for your condition. The following table summarises this information:

	Dosage	CBD oil concentration	Symptoms	Number of drops
Micro dose	0.5 – 20 mg per day	5% or 10% oil (1.67 mg or 3.5 mg CBD per drop)	headache, problems sleeping, mood swings, stress, and metabolic disorders	1–5 drops 3x per day
Standard dose	10 – 100 mg per day	10%, 15% or 20% oil (3.5 mg, 5 mg or 6.7 mg CBD per drop)	pain, inflammation, anxiety, depression, MS, IBS, arthritis, autism, Lyme disease, autoimmune conditions, fibromyalgia, weight reduction plans	1–5 drops 3x per day
Macro dose	50 – 800 mg per day	30%, 40% or 50% CBD paste	epilepsy, cancer, liver disease, serious life-threatening conditions (supportive role)	no data

CBD dosage calculator

In this next section, you can familiarise yourself with the CBD dosage calculator. We’ll show you your theoretical daily dose and how much cannabidiol is in each drop. Using this dosage calculator you can quickly get an overview of your options and find the perfect dose, just as we have already described.

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The calculations of the dosage calculator

In order to determine the number of drops, the algorithm has been set to assume 250 drops per 10 ml bottle. This is an average, based on all the products which are currently on the market. This number of drops is then assumed to apply in the case of all bottles whose content is measured in ml.

The calculation for the CBD dose is then carried out as follows:
Daily dose = (number of doses per day * drops per dose) + (CBD content of the bottle in mg / ml)

How are CBD oil drops measured?

Even though CBD oil comes with a pipette with dropper function, experts recommend measuring CBD doses in millilitres rather than in drops. The reason for this is that millilitres are a more accurate unit of measurement than individual drops are. Generally, you can assume that 20 drops of CBD oil is equivalent to one millilitre. This is just a guideline value, however. Depending on the diametre of the pipette tube, its length, and the size of the outlet opening, the number of drops which actually adds up to one millilitre can vary – and can be as high as 55 drops. Deviations from the manufacturer’s specification of how many drops are in a bottle also occur. The concentration of CBD in each drop can also vary depending on how thoroughly mixed the solution is. It is thus quite conceivable that taking the same number of drops on two different occasions can result in differing effects each time; anything from no effect at all to a stronger effect than expected.

The use of calibrated measuring pipettes makes it easier to measure the amount of CBD by means of drops of oil. Such pipettes or droppers may come with the CBD product itself. If a dropper with millilitre accuracy is not included with the CBD oil, such droppers can easily be obtained from any pharmacy. Simply ask at your local pharmacy.

How important is bodyweight in dosing cannabidiol?

There are dosage suggestions which recommend that you should take 5 milligrams of cannabidiol for every 10 kg of body weight. For an average person of 75 kilograms, this would mean a daily dose of CBD of 37.5 milligrams. This example shows that it is unfortunately not so easy to determine the appropriate daily dose of CBD in relation to your bodyweight. Of course weight does play a role in CBD dosage, but other factors are even more important. Especially important amongst these factors are the type of complaint involved and the severity of the complaint for which the CBD is being taken. In addition, individual body chemistry, the way the CBD is taken, and the form in which the CBD comes (full spectrum oil, broad spectrum…) also play a role in the dosage.

If the product description provides weight as the only criterion for determining dosage, you will need to seek further information elsewhere.

CBD gumdrops and CBD capsules – dosage

In (online) retail, CBD gumdrops and CBD capsules have considerably lower availability than CBD e-liquids, which are used for vaping, and the CBD oils, which are taken orally. Whilst getting the dosage right can be something of a hurdle when it comes to vaping or taking CBD oil, it is easier to determine dosage when the CBD comes in the form of capsules or gumdrops, especially for new users. The packaging of these forms of CBD not only displays the total amount of CBD, but also gives the amount in milligrams per capsule or per gumdrop. This makes measuring out doses altogether easier. CBD capsules and CBD gumdrops usually contain between 10 and 15 milligrams of CBD.

You should start off gently, with just one gumdrop or capsule at a time. Both capsules and gumdrops can take up to 30 minutes to reach your stomach – so you need to be patient. Capsules and gumdrops first need to be digested before the CBD can be released into the body via the stomach lining. This can take up to two hours

How much CBD e-liquid should I vape?

Determining the dose of CBD oil which works best for you can take some time. This also applies to the CBD e-liquids, which are vaped using e-cigarettes or vaporisers. Drops are easier to dose than inhalations through a vaper. Generally, you can assume that you should take one or two inhalations and then wait for a few minutes. During this period you should pay close attention to how your body reacts. If you do not notice anything, take another two inhalations. Carry on like this until the desired effect has been achieved. This is one way for you to determine the right CBD dose for yourself without having to use a calculator.

FAQs

Taking products containing cannabinoids may result in interactions with various medications. If you are already taking medication, the use of CBD and other cannabinoids should be discussed with your doctor beforehand.