How Often Can You Take CBD?
If you’re new to CBD, you might still be figuring out dosing. Like any supplement in your routine, it’s important to make sure that you take a safe yet effective amount of CBD.
How often can you take CBD?
How often you can take CBD depends on the amount that you take, your specific needs, and the method you use to consume it. On the whole, you’ll likely want to continue dosing CBD once the effects of your previous dose have worn off. Because of this, it’s especially useful to plan how often you take CBD around the method of consumption you use.
Different consumption methods and how long they stay in the body
Vaping
Vaping is a quick and efficient way to consume CBD, but it won’t stay in your body for long. Research tells us that CBD can reach its peak levels as quickly as three minutes post-consumption (1). Because of this, you may need to vape CBD more often than with other CBD consumption methods.
Edibles
Edibles are a very popular way to consume CBD that gives low to medium strength results over a longer period of time. Edible CBD products include specific food products but also CBD drinks or CBD oil. When consumed orally, edible CBD products can take between 1.5 to 3 hours to reach their peak levels in your system (2). Edibles are, therefore, a great CBD option for those wanting sustained medium treatment results. If edibles are your CBD consumption method of choice, you probably need to consume CBD less frequently than when using other methods, like vaping.
Nasal spray
Nasal sprays aren’t as well known as other CBD products, but they can be very effective. Nasal sprays work relatively quickly and you can expect CBD to reach peak concentration levels roughly 10 minutes after inhaling a nasal spray (3). Because of its rapid delivery system, you can probably expect to use a CBD nasal spray more frequently than you would with a longer-lasting consumption method like edibles.
How much CBD should you take?
The good news about CBD use is that high doses can be used both safely and effectively. Studies tell us that CBD can be used in doses as high as 1,500 mg per day to produce safe, tolerable, and effective results (4).
It’s important to find the right CBD dose for you, but one thing you don’t have to worry about with CBD is overdose. There are no CBD receptors located on the areas of the brainstem that control for respiration. Because of this, even high doses of CBD don’t come with a risk of suppressing respiration and causing an overdose (5). To put this in comparison, when we look at a drug group like opioids that we know can cause overdose, we do find opioid receptors on the regions of the brainstem that control respiration (6).
Other factors that affect dosing
As well as the type of consumption method you use, other factors can affect how CBD interacts with your body, and therefore how often you might need to take it.
Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to determining how often to take CBD:
The severity of your symptoms
As with most medicines, the strength of your symptoms play a role in how much CBD you need to take. If your symptoms lean towards the mild end of the scale, then you may require a lower CBD dose spaced out over time. However, if your symptoms are more severe, then you may require a higher dose more regularly.
Your experience and tolerance
Your CBD tolerance level contributes towards how often you need to take CBD. If you’re new to CBD, then it’s probably best to take a low and slow approach starting with a low dose of CBD and spacing out the time between doses.
Body mass
Your body mass also influences how much CBD you might need. Smaller body types typically need a smaller dose of CBD because there is less mass for the medicine to reach. On the other hand, bigger body types likely require a higher dose.
What happens if you take too much CBD?
As we know, no risk of overdose exists when it comes to CBD use. So you don’t have to worry about taking too much CBD. But while you might not have an overdose risk, some side effects are possible from CBD use.
The good news is that CBD side effects tend to be mild, but it’s important that you be aware of them. Potential side effects from CBD include:
- diarrhea
- dizziness
- reduced appetite
- lethargy/tiredness (7).
If you experience these symptoms, it’s best to stop using the product and consult your doctor if you have any concerns.
Get it right and experience the benefits
When you get your CBD dosing schedule right, you can start to experience the range of therapeutic benefits from CBD. This small compound packs a mighty punch and research tells us that CBD has impressive ability to help:
- reduce inflammation (8)
- reduce anxiety and depression (9)
- relieve sleep disorders (10)
- control pain (11)
- improve brain health (12)
- control seizure disorders (13)
- relieve skin conditions (14)
The bottom line
When it comes to determining how often you should take CBD, the answer differs from person to person. The way you consume CBD, the severity of your symptoms, your tolerance, and your body mass all contribute to how often you need to take CBD and how much you should take. When you do get your CBD dosing schedule right, you may be able to experience some of the impressive effects of this cannabinoid.
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**Standard Disclaimer: CBD is not FDA-approved. We make no such claims that using our products will guarantee relief. Moreover, research regarding CBD is still ongoing and in the early stages.**
