How Much CBD Should You Take: Ultimate Guide to Dosing with CBD

It feels impossible to scroll Instagram or walk by a health food shop without seeing CBD products all over the place. CBD is even sold at some gas stations!

Maybe you even have friends who rave about how CBD has calmed their anxiety or helped them with pain. n the flip side, maybe you’ve tried CBD  and it didn’t live up the hype.

So what’s up?

Over the past few weeks at Wake and Bake, we’ve been telling you all about what CBD is, how to make your own DIY CBD oil and more. But we’ve been getting SO MANY QUESTIONS about dosing.

I hear you. Today, you’ll learn how much CBD is recommended.

Quality CBD Oil Matters

Before we dive in, let’s get something straight.

Not all CBD products are created equally.

In every industry, there’s the good, the bad and the ugly.

CBD is no different.

And crappy CBD oil just doesn’t work.

CBD is A Plant Medicine, Not a Pharmaceutical

In my pre-cannabis days, if I got a headache I would pop a Tylenol and 20 minutes later I’d be good.

Pharmaceutical medication is like that.

There is a predictable response for the vast majority of the population.

CBD is not like Tylenol.

There is no one-size-fits-all dose of CBD that will be a silver bullet.

Dosing can depend on:

• the condition you want to treat and how severe it is
• your body and how it responds to CBD
• your weight
• and even what you’ve eaten today!

It might take you a little bit of time and effort to find your ideal dose but the side effects are mild and there’s no risk of fatal overdose.

Take that big pharma!

I now know exactly how much CBD I need to make those headaches disappear fast.

Another thing to consider is preventative versus acute dosing.

Some choose to use CBD only when necessary, such as when they have a headache. Others (myself included) find that using CBD on a daily basis can help with chronic conditions and help prevent diseases from re-occurring.

My pet theory is that in 20 years everyone will be taking daily CBD as part of their healthy lifestyle, just like vitamin D supplements.

Let’s Get Started

There are two main questions we need to answer to get you started with CBD:

• How much CBD do you take?
• How do you take CBD?

Recommended Doses

Let’s start with how much we should be taking.

Since people are treating a wide range of conditions and ailments, and everyone is so different, dosing guidelines can be categorized in three ways.

Microdosing (0.5-20mg CBD per dose, per day)

This is where you consume very small amounts of CBD several times throughout the day. Starting low and going slow serves two purposes. It gives you time to really understand how CBD is working in your body and you won’t be using too much of a product that can be expensive.

For some people, the starting dose is enough and they feel fantastic.

Microdoses have been shown to be helpful with sleep, headaches, mood disorders, stress, and nausea.

Standard Dosing (10-100mg CBD per dose, per day)

For people looking for relief from pain, inflammation, anxiety, depression, IBS, fibromyalgia and more, a higher dose of CBD may be warranted.

Macro Dosing or Heroic Dosing (50-800mg CBD per dose/per day)

This is used to treat serious conditions like cancer, epilepsy, liver disorders, and other life-threatening conditions. Talking to a cannabis doctor is your best bet here.

No matter what dose you end up at, I always recommend starting with a really low dose of 5mg. For some people, this will be their sweet spot and they’ll never have to adjust. For others, it can take days and even weeks to find their Goldilocks zone. Think about it like taking a journey with this plant and your body, instead of a quick fix.

Ingestion Methods

Now we know how much CBD to start with, but how are you going to take it?

There are many different ingestion methods, but we’ll divide them into three major categories. Look through the chart below and start with something that feels good to you. When you’re just starting out, I highly recommend keeping an effects journal so you can track your dose and how it made you feel. It can be as simple as a pen and paper or if you love apps, check out Releaf.

	Inhalation	Ingestion	Sublingual
How to take it	joints vaporizer vape pen bong pipe	CBD edibles (cookies etc.) put oil in hot drinks take it ‘neat’	put oil under your tongue for 30 seconds then swallow rub oil on your gums
Starts to work in:	5-15 minutes	1-3 hours	15-30 minutes
Relief lasts for:	1-3 hours	6-8 hours	2-4 hours
Start with:	I puff	5mg CBD	5mg CBD
If you don’t feel relief, re-dose in:	15 min	3 hours	1 hour
If needed, increase the dose by:	1 puff	2.5-5mg CBD	2.5-5mg CBD

THC

Yes, I know this is an article about CBD but I’d be a shitty Cannabis Coach if I didn’t at least mention that a little THC goes a long way in boosting how well CBD works in your body. If you’re not getting the effects you’re looking for from CBD alone, consider adding some THC into your regimen to see how you feel.

Let’s Recap

• Only use high-quality CBD

• Start with 5mg.

• Choose your ingestion method.

• Record how you feel. If you feel better, that’s your dose.

• If you don’t feel better after a couple of doses, increase by 2.5-5mg of CBD until you attain relief.

• If you have any unpleasant side effects, go back to your previous dose, and wait a few days before increasing.
• Adding THC may help CBD to work better in your body.

Tell me about your experiences with incorporating CBD into your wellness routine. Do you have more CBD questions? Reach out, we want to hear them!

References:

https://www.projectcbd.org/how-to/cbd-dosage

CBD – A Patient’s Guide to Medicinal Cannabis