Why CBD
Might not
work for you.

Unfortunately, some CBD products are not made with high-quality CBD. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t yet approved any non-prescription CBD products. Some scammers take full advantage of that fact by selling low-quality products that aren’t labeled accurately.

One group of researchers analyzed 84 CBD products and found that only 31 percent of them contained the amount of CBD that had been advertised.

If you’ve tried CBD and it was ineffective, don’t automatically assume that all CBD products are bad. Maybe you purchased a bad product, maybe you weren’t using enough, or it didn’t contain enough CBD, perhaps it didn’t contain CBD at all.

Knowing what’s in your CBD, where and how it’s grown, how it was extracted and 3rd party testing are important.

The first thing you should know – Never purchase CBD oil from a company that doesn’t use third-party lab testing. At present, it is an unregulated industry so a lot of low-standard oil gets through. Third party testing from a reputable lab removes most of the doubt about the reputation of the brand, in addition to showing the percentage of CBD in the product, other cannabinoids, heavy metals, and more.  Lab testing can reveal exactly how much CBD is in the product, and the test results should be available for you to see for yourself.

In some cases, you’ll get companies that claim their bottles have 99% CBD but only contain much less.

• Without lab results, how can you tell?
• If you are using a quality brand, are you taking enough?
• Are you using it every day?

Here are some examples of generic dosing recommendations. Keep in mind everyone is different and every body has different needs.  You need to =start with a low dose and slowly increase it over time until you find what works for you.

• 2.5 – 20mg daily to alleviate chronic pain.
• Up to 400mg a day for epilepsy.

Notice the different doses per condition and the large range? Always begin with a low dose, but keep increasing it until you feel an effect. If you go as far as 100mg a day for pain, and it isn’t working, perhaps CBD is not for you.

CBD works with the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and some of us are born with more endocannabinoids than others.  CBD oil works due to the way the body interacts with it.  If you have a genetic disorder for example, you could experience paranoia when using THC but CBD should help you.  If not, your genetics could  be to blame. Each person’s operates a little differently.

In fact, a professor of clinical psychiatry noted 20 PERCENT OF AMERICANS may have A GENETIC MUTATIONTRUSTED SOURCE that makes them naturally produce more endocannabinoids — similar to cannabinoids but produced by your body.   If you’re lucky enough to have this mutation, you’ll feel less anxious than a normal person but conversely, since you have extra cannabinoids already, CBD may not prove effective. If you’d like to find out how your body would respond to weed, you can use a service such as 23ANDME to predict how you’ll respond.

Check with your doctor about other options that may work for you.

Men are generally larger than women and generally they need higher doses of CBD than women. If you’re a female, you’re naturally more sensitive to the cannabinoids in cannabis – including CBD. This means you are also more likely to benefit from pain relief.

Research also shows that THC works closely with estrogen, so cannabis is most powerful in women when estrogen levels are at their peak, during a menstrual cycle.  It is unclear if CBD is more effective during this period.

We’re all wired differently which means some people are simply more sensitive to CBD than others.  For example, have you ever wondered why one person can drink a six-pack of beer and feel okay, but someone else is on the floor after only two?   It is all about the endocannabinoid system. Factors such as genetics, stress, diet, and lifestyle impact how the ECS functions.

If CBD isn’t working for you, take a close look at your lifestyle, and pay particular attention to the amount of fatty acids in your diet. If your diet is low in fatty acids, especially omega-3, your ECS will not function at a high level. CBD is a form of fatty acid so if you’re already consuming a lot, cannabidiol will not be as effective as in someone who is lacking in fatty acids.

Also, if your CB2 receptors are stronger than the CB1 receptors, or vice versa, CBD will not be as effective because your biochemistry affects your endocannabinoid balance.  Nature endowed us with our own cannabinoids, so unless you have a deficiency of them or sluggish receptors, you may not need supplementation.

By now, it should be apparent that CBD works best in people with significant endocannabinoid gaps. If you’re in excellent shape with no real ailments, CBD oil won’t help you as much as if you had other conditions. Individuals with medical conditions have an altered biochemistry and when you consume CBD, it produces a number of chemical interactions in the body which work to restore internal homeostasis.

CBD will be far more effective if you suffer from psychological conditions that are affecting your mental health.

In this instance, there is a chemical imbalance in the brain that is partially to blame for your mental issues. When you use CBD, the chemical balance could be restored which should make you feel a lot better.

Finding the right dosage of CBD can take patience and persistence. The appropriate amount varies for each individual, as every person has a unique biology that results in a different reaction.

So how do you figure out what’s right for you?

Start with a low dose and slowly increase it over time until you find what dosa works for you.

Most people find that taking a daily dose can help sustain a level of CBD in your body, which might stimulate your endocannabinoid system to make it react more to cannabinoids like CBD.

And many people use a microdosing technique to find their personal dosage and adjust it as needed over time.

You may find it helpful to use a journal to log your results. Keep track of how much you’ve taken, how you feel before dosing and at several time intervals afterward, and any changes in symptoms that you notice.

Give it Time.

The first time you use CBD, you may be expecting instant relief and get… nothing.  This is not unusual.  Immediate results are not all that common.

In fact, many people take CBD for several weeks or even several months before they see a difference.

Exploring the effects of CBD isn’t as easy as taking a couple of Advils for a headache. It actually requires a certain level of commitment to put time and thought into your process of uncovering the long-term effects.

If you’re still not seeing results after a month or two, then it may be time to move on and try a different product or brand. A CBD journal can help you keep track of how long it’s been and whether or not you’ve experienced any changes.

Be patient. While it can be frustrating to keep trying with no results, you may end up finding the relief you need and glad that you didn’t give up so quickly.

Generally speaking, the more CBD you use, the greater your tolerance. So if you’ve used 20mg a day for 6 months,  or 50mg or more  for a couple of years,  it might not have the same effect as when using it for the first time.  So keep in mind that it’s possible to build up a tolerance to CBD, like many other drugs and chemicals. So if you find that it’s not working as well after a while, try taking a few days or even a couple of weeks’ break to reset your system before starting with a low dose again.

A short break should be enough to restore disorder and ensure your body reacts positively to the ‘new’ stimuli.

There are hundreds of cannabis strains and practically none of them have identical levels of THC, CBD or other cannabinoids. The best marijuana CBD strains include Charlotte’s Web, Harlequin, Cannatonic, and Canna-Tsu. While Charlotte’s Web has enormous amounts of CBD but minimal THC, Harlequin has more than enough THC to get you high.  If consuming marijuana is not legal in your state, consuming hemp based products is legal in all 50 states.  And the hemp plant generally contains much higher levels of CBD with minimal levels of THC.

CBD ISOLATE works for hundreds of thousands of people all on it’s own, but if CBD is not effective for you when taken by itself as an isolate, the next step would be to try a broad-spectrum CBD product, without THC, or a full-spectrum CBD product that contains minimal levels of THC.  Some people need the “entourage effect,” which essentially means that CBD oil might work better for you when it contains other natural cannabis compounds like terpenes and flavonoids.

If CBD isolate, broad-spectrum or full-spectrum CBD do not work for you, marijuana might be the answer. Just make sure it’s legal in your state. And when all these natural medicinal alternatives have failed, unfortunatey, you may have no choice but to take pharmaceuticals.

So if you’ve been trying one delivery system with no luck, it’s possible that a different form would work better for you.

One factor to consider is BIOAVAILABILITY, which essentially refers to how much of the CBD actually gets into your bloodstream.

For example, if you eat CBD gummies, they have to go through your digestive tract before you can absorb them, and the amount that ends up in your system may be relatively low.

On the other hand, if you take a tincture sublingually — which means under the tongue — you’re absorbing it directly into your bloodstream. So you could get quicker, more noticeable results than you would from waiting for your digestive system to process it.

In addition, your most effective method may vary depending on what type of relief you’re looking for.

For example, a topical balm won’t help you with your panic attacks. But it can offer potential relief for, say, sore muscles, if you zero in on that particular area.

If you’ve been trying one delivery system with no luck, then a different form might work better for you. One factor to consider is bioavailability, which essentially refers to how much of the CBD actually gets into your bloodstream.

When you eat CBD edibles or take CBD capsules, they have to go through your digestive tract before you can absorb them, and the amount that ends up in your system may be relatively low.

On the other hand, if you take a tincture sublingually — which means under the tongue — you’re absorbing it directly into your bloodstream. So you could get quicker, more noticeable results than you would from waiting for your digestive system to process it.

Also keep in mind that  your most effective method may vary depending on what type of relief you’re looking for.

For example, a topical balm won’t help you with your panic attacks. But it can offer potential relief for sore muscles, if you zero in on that particular area.