Explaining dosages with CBD can be one of the most complicated aspects, as tinctures can be in different sizes, with different quantities of cannabinoids and different application forms (spray or dropper etc).
Understanding the correct CBD dosage for you can also be tricky, as everyone’s body is different and what works for one, might be the completely wrong dosage for another.
A term that comes up regularly is titration, however I realised many weren’t yet aware what this meant, so I wanted to dive into the subject and what this means in relation to CBD.
Titration Definition
Titration is a method commonly utilised with pharmacies or in labs for quantitative chemical analysis, involving a solution slowly being added to a known volume.
What Is CBD Titration?
This is the process of slowly adding a measured quantity to a dosage. This is common when people are first trying medicinal cannabis, starting with a minute amount and gradually increasing the dosage. As the saying goes, ‘start low and go slow’.
Dr Allan Frankel wrote about this subject, based on a small daily increase, however his focus was purely on THC. As he states in the article, we all have so much to learn on this subject and there needs to be a lot more studies performed.
I would also recommend having a look at the Pharmacists guide on the subject, which I thought was the best around (currently).
What Is Micro-Dosing?
This is another common term you will hear within the CBD industry. It is a technique involving the consumer taking very small quantities of cannabidiol (or cannabinoid of choice) on a regular schedule, rather than just taking once per day.
An example of this would be if you planned on taking 30mg of CBD, but rather than taking it all in one go, you instead might want 10mg of CBD in the morning, 10mg in the afternoon and 10mg before bed.
This would allow for a continuous supply of cannabidiol into your system. Micro-dosing is more commonly discussed in relation to psychedelics, however it certainly has a place with CBD.
Packaging
Most brands will highlight the recommended dosage for their products on their packaging, while you can also reach out to the brand if you can’t find the relevant guidelines on their product page.
Healthline highlights a recommended starting dosage of 20-40mg of CBD per day, increasing by 5mg after a week.
The FSA doesn’t recommend going over 70mg in a day, so keep that in mind when working out your dosage.
To offer you an idea of my dosage, I consume 40mg of CBD per day, while when I started out, I was having 20mg per day, but I have built up a level of tolerance over time.
Tincture Size
It is really important to highlight that 50% of the CBD oil’s I’ve tested have come in a 10ml tincture and 50% have come in a 30ml tincture. Generally, UK brands often use a 10ml tincture and US brands use a 30ml tincture.
The size of the tincture isn’t overly important, it’s about how much CBD you’re getting in the tincture, however it is important to know the size as this will affect your dosage.
For example, a 30ml 1,000mg tincture might recommend taking a full 1ml dropper, which would provide you with 33.33mg of CBD, a fair amount to take for a day. However, if you had a 10ml 1,000mg tincture, a 1ml dropper would actually contain 100mg of CBD, more than the recommended max in a day.
Having said that, the droppers in the 10ml tinctures tend to be 0.5ml max, so unless you have markers on the dropper, it can become even more puzzling, meaning you have to rely on counting drops in your mouth.
Note
This is not medical advice. Please speak to a doctor or a medically qualified individual if you’re seeking advice regarding medical cannabis.