General hints for Cannabis dosing

No matter what administration form is preferred, patients should be careful not to accidentally overdose on cannabinoids. Especially to those who have no prior experience with cannabis, the feeling of getting high may be disturbing or frightening. Other overdosing effects may cause a patient e.g. to fall (dizziness), throw up (nausea), or become disoriented.

It is important to find your own proper dose in order to fully benefit from the medicinal properties of cannabis. Most unwanted side effects of cannabis may be prevented by following just a few simple guidelines. The first one is to start with a low dose. It is better to take several small doses in a day that add up to a perfect result, than to experiment with one single large dose that may turn out to be too much. Second, it is important to have patience and wait for the effects (if any) to appear. Clearly, this can be frustrating in the case of acute symptoms such as strong pain, nausea or spasms, but remember that cannabis may have a different effect on each patient. In order to really evaluate what cannabis does to your medical condition, it is best to use the same (low) dose for several days, and monitor any effects that may occur. In this period you will be better able to recognize positive as well as unwanted effects. Finally, you can start to increase the dose slowly after a few days. Again: do not suddenly or quickly increase or change the dose, but take it slow and take a few days after each cannabis may also be preferred for aiding sleep, because its effect potentially last all night. A major disadvantage of oral administration is the large variability in uptake by the intestines, because the type of food you eat can have a significant influence on the absorption of the active substances.

Moreover there is the inconvenience of taking oral medication in case of e.g. nausea, vomiting or lack of appetite. Dosing with oral cannabis medicine should be done carefully and slowly, because overdosing more easily occurs than with inhaled administration.