Epilepsy

Epilepsy

Of all the many medicinal uses of CBD, using it for seizure control has shown some the most spectacular and well-publicized results. After the administration of the proper dose of CBD, seizures can be greatly reduced, and in some cases stop altogether. 

Medical cannabis is so effective in treating epilepsy, that an entire strain of cannabis is named after its most famous patient, Charlotte Figi. Charlotte was three months old when she started having regular seizures, that could last for four hours. By the time she was 5 years old her parents had exhausted all known medical avenues. Charlotte was having almost constant seizures and was now unable to walk or talk. In desperation her parents contacted a cannabis grower in Colorado and started dosing Charlotte with a high CBD strain of cannabis. The results were totally life changing. Charlotte now gets a dose of cannabis oil twice a day in her food. 

Now Charlotte can walk, talk, feed herself and ride a bicycle. She gets around three seizures per month in her sleep. The strain of cannabis used to change her life is now known as Charlotte's Web. 

More scientific research has been completed on children than on adults. Not only can CBD reduce the number of seizures and severity, it can also be effective in treating symptoms that are resistant to standard epilepsy medicines. Here is another interesting study

 

Using CBD 

Epilepsy requires large doses of CBD. Bonnie Goldstein, MD. suggests 1mg/kg/day of CBD as a starting dose for pediatric epilepsy, increasing by 1mg/kg/day every two weeks, depending on the response. It is preferable to divide this daily dose into three doses taken every seven to eight hours, between meals. It is extremely important to consistently monitor results. Most patients who respond positively end up taking between 4 and 16 mg/kg/day. Following this advice, a 23kg child would take 23mg of CBD per day to begin *around 8mg three times daily. This would then be increased to 46mg of CBD after two weeks. 

 

CHILDREN DAILY DOSE: If CBD is going to work for your child then CBD Plus is the product to try. It is water soluble which means you can add it to any beverage and it is more cost effective at the higher doses required to treat epilepsy. This product comes in a 10ml pump bottle. One pump would be too much for initial dosing, so you would have to open the bottle and use a pipette for dosages (we will send you a pipette).

Children can also use CBD 800, however, many children do not enjoy the taste and getting them to take it correctly can be tricky. 

Testing sensitivity with CBD Plus

First you would give your child one pipette drop per day (as mentioned, you need to open the pump bottle and use the pipette not the pump mechanism). You would mix this drop into any beverage and give it to your child in the morning. You would monitor your child on one drop for 4-6 days. You can then go up to one drop administered twice per day (7-8 hours apart). You would monitor your child on this for 4-6 days. You can then go up to two drops administered twice per day (7-8 hours apart). After 4-6 days you can go up to three drops in the morning and two drops in the afternoon (at this point your child is taking 1 squirt). 

 Increasing your dosage with CBD Plus

Ultimately, you want to give your child 1mg/kg/day to start, and slowly increase this dose by 1mg/kg/day (after two weeks), depending on the response.  Our CBD Plus contains close to 2mg per pipette drop, and 8mg of CBD per pump. However, due to the bioavailability of the oil, the effects can be a lot more, so we recommend using the sensitivity test and slowly increasing your dosage from there. 

If you see an excellent response in your dosage, then there is no need to go up in the dosage range. It is important that you keep a detailed diary and note when you give your child the dosage, how many drops you give your child and how they are throughout the day. The detailed diary is really important when you are finding the correct dosage, since there is no one-size-fits-all dosage, so we really stress the importance of this. 

Using CBD 800

If you are using CBD 800 remember that one drop contains 3mg of CBD, and you should give your child a starting dosage of 1mg/kg/day (so you need to take the child's weight and divide this by three to get the correct number of drops, remember that it is preferable to split this daily dose into three doses). You would monitor your child on this dose, increasing it by 1mg/kg/day every two weeks, depending on the response.  

CHILDREN EMERGENCY DOSE: CBD is often used successfully to stop or reduce immediate symptoms during a seizure. CBD oil can be dropped under the tongue (if safe to do so). For this action we recommend our CBD 800 as it can deliver 3mg of CBD per drop. This is useful because during a seizure the child will not be able to drink a liquid, and the effects from sublingual absorption are a lot faster. 

ADULT DOSE:

For adults, start with 1-3 squirts of our CBD Plus per day. For the first 4-6 days, only use one squirt to test sensitivity. You may need need to up this dosage depending on the effect. For immediate relief (during seizures) use our CBD 800, using 1mg/kg (remember that each drop contains more than 3 mg of CBD). Following this advice, if you weigh 65kg, for immediate relief use around 22 drops of CBD 800

 

IMPORTANT TO NOTE 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to dosages, and you will need to monitor the effects. We suggest keeping a diary to do this, since you may need to tweak your dosages. Always start with a micro dosage to check sensitivity, and talk to your doctor about using CBD.