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Stopping CBD: tolerance, withdrawal and tapering

Studies have not found a withdrawal syndrome when CBD is stopped, but people taking it for epilepsy must taper under medical advice. What the evidence says.

Facts checked 13 November 20266 min readHow we research

Studies have not found a withdrawal syndrome when CBD is stopped.1 There is one firm exception to stopping abruptly: people taking CBD for epilepsy should reduce the dose gradually under medical advice, because seizures can increase.1 Whatever the reason for taking it, tell your prescriber before you stop, as other medicines may be affected.

Does stopping CBD cause withdrawal?

The best evidence comes from a study designed to test this. Adults took 1,500 mg of CBD a day (750 mg twice daily) for 28 days and were then assessed for 6 weeks. They showed no signs or symptoms of withdrawal. The US prescribing information for the registered CBD medicine concludes that CBD “likely does not produce physical dependence”.1

The World Health Organization’s 2018 review reached a similar view from a different angle: “At present, there are no case reports of abuse or dependence relating to the use of pure CBD.”2 In a separate study of abuse potential, single doses of 750 to 4,500 mg stayed within the placebo range on measures of “drug liking”, unlike THC and a sedative used for comparison.1

Two limits are worth stating. The withdrawal study lasted 28 days, so it does not tell us about stopping after years of use. And it tested pure CBD. Products that also contain THC are a different matter, and are outside the scope of this page. See is CBD addictive?

Why is epilepsy the exception?

This is about the condition, not about dependence on CBD. As with most anti-seizure medicines, stopping abruptly can provoke seizures. The US prescribing information for CBD oral solution says:1

  • when discontinuing, the dose should be decreased gradually
  • abrupt discontinuation should be avoided when possible, because of the risk of increased seizure frequency and status epilepticus (a prolonged seizure that is a medical emergency)
  • if the medicine has to be withdrawn because of a serious side effect, rapid discontinuation can be considered.

The schedule for reducing the dose is set by the treating specialist. Do not stop or cut down a child’s or your own epilepsy medicine without that advice. See CBD for epilepsy.

What is the difference between withdrawal and symptoms coming back?

Withdrawal means new symptoms caused by the body adjusting to the absence of a drug. That is different from the original problem returning once a treatment is removed. If anxiety, poor sleep or pain is the same after stopping as it was before starting, that is not withdrawal. It can also be useful information. If nothing changes when CBD is stopped, it may not have been doing much. Placebo-controlled trials of CBD for pain and insomnia have mostly found it no better than a dummy treatment.34

Do you build up a tolerance to CBD?

Tolerance means needing more of a drug to get the same effect. For CBD the evidence is thin and points in different directions.

Effect studied Who and what dose What happened over time
Resting blood pressure 26 healthy men, 600 mg a day for 7 days The drop in resting blood pressure seen after a first dose was lost with repeated dosing5
Drop seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (a severe childhood epilepsy) Long-term follow-up of trial participants on prescription CBD, no placebo group Median reductions of 48 to 71% were maintained through 156 weeks6

The blood pressure result shows that at least one effect of CBD can fade quickly. The epilepsy follow-up suggests the seizure effect did not fade over three years, though without a comparison group it cannot prove how large the effect was.6 For other uses, tolerance has not been properly studied.

Needing more to get the same effect is a reason to talk to your prescriber, not to raise the dose yourself. The TGA’s assessment of the registered CBD medicine identified higher dose as a risk factor for liver abnormalities.7

What happens to your other medicines when you stop?

This is the part people most often miss. CBD slows several of the liver enzymes that clear other medicines.1 If your other doses were adjusted while you were on CBD, they may need adjusting again when you stop.

  • Warfarin. Raised INR (a measure of how long blood takes to clot) and bleeding have been reported with cannabinoids. Reviewers advise monitoring INR when starting, stopping or changing the dose.8
  • Clobazam. CBD raises the level of clobazam’s active breakdown product about 3-fold.1
  • Tacrolimus and everolimus (medicines used after organ transplants). Levels rose with CBD: about 3-fold for tacrolimus in a case report, and about 2.5-fold for everolimus.81

Tell every prescriber involved and your pharmacist before you stop. See CBD drug interactions.

How long does CBD take to leave the body?

CBD clears slowly. After a week of twice-daily oral dosing in healthy adults, its half-life (the time for the blood level to halve) was 56 to 61 hours, or about 2.5 days.1 In an Australian study, CBD was still detectable in blood more than 4 weeks after a single 1,500 mg dose.9

A slow exit means the level in the blood falls gradually over days once dosing stops. Liver effects also reverse. In a US Food and Drug Administration study of healthy adults taking about 350 to 400 mg a day, raised liver enzymes returned to normal within 1 to 2 weeks of stopping.10 See how long CBD stays in your system.

What are good reasons to stop?

  • It has not helped. TGA guidance says treatment should be stopped if benefit has not been demonstrated.11
  • Side effects. Persistent sleepiness, diarrhoea or loss of appetite are the common ones.1 See CBD side effects.
  • Abnormal liver tests. Your prescriber may reduce the dose or stop treatment. See CBD and the liver.
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding. TGA patient guidance says medicinal cannabis is not appropriate for women who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.12 If you take CBD for epilepsy, speak to your specialist urgently and do not stop on your own. See CBD in pregnancy and breastfeeding.
  • A new medicine that interacts. See the list above.
  • Cost. See how much CBD costs in Australia.

How do you stop safely?

  1. Tell your prescriber you want to stop, and why.
  2. If you take CBD for seizures, follow the tapering plan you are given. Do not stop suddenly.1
  3. Ask whether any of your other medicines need a dose change or a blood test once CBD is out of the picture.8
  4. Note your symptoms for a few weeks afterwards, so you can tell whether anything has changed.
  5. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of unused medicine, and do not pass it on to someone else.

Footnotes

  1. US National Library of Medicine, DailyMed. Epidiolex (cannabidiol) oral solution: prescribing information, revised 2026. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=8bf27097-4870-43fb-94f0-f3d0871d1eec ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  2. World Health Organization, Expert Committee on Drug Dependence. Cannabidiol (CBD) critical review report, 2018. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/controlled-substances/whocbdreportmay2018-2.pdf ↩

  3. Moore RA, Straube S, Fisher E, Eccleston C. Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Journal of Pain, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2023.10.009 ↩

  4. Narayan AJ, et al. Cannabidiol for moderate-severe insomnia: a randomized controlled pilot trial of 150 mg of nightly dosing. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38174873/ ↩

  5. Systematic review of randomised trials of oral cannabidiol and blood pressure in adults (summarising Sultan et al., 2020). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13531894/ ↩

  6. Long-term cannabidiol treatment in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: open-label extension results. Epilepsia (copy hosted by University College London). https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10126054/1/epi.16878.pdf ↩ ↩2

  7. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Australian Public Assessment Report for cannabidiol (Epidyolex). https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/auspar-cannabidiol-210115.pdf ↩

  8. Systematic review of drug interactions with cannabidiol and other cannabinoids. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11167383/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. McCartney D, et al. Effects of cannabidiol on simulated driving and cognitive performance: a dose-ranging randomised controlled trial. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35637624/ ↩

  10. EurekAlert news release on Florian J, et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2025 (cannabidiol and liver enzyme elevations in healthy adults). https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1089832 ↩

  11. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Guidance for the use of medicinal cannabis in Australia: overview. https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/resource/guidance/guidance-use-medicinal-cannabis-australia-overview ↩

  12. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Guidance for the use of medicinal cannabis in Australia: patient information. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/guidance-use-medicinal-cannabis-australia-patient-information.pdf ↩

Common questions

Can I stop CBD suddenly?

If you take CBD for epilepsy, no. The prescribing information says the dose should be decreased gradually because of the risk of increased seizures. For other uses, studies have not found a withdrawal syndrome, but you should still tell your prescriber first because stopping can change the levels of other medicines.

Is there withdrawal from CBD?

Studies have not found one. Adults who took 1,500 mg a day for 28 days showed no signs or symptoms of withdrawal over a 6-week assessment period. The World Health Organization's 2018 review found no case reports of abuse or dependence relating to pure CBD.

Can you build a tolerance to CBD?

The evidence is limited. In healthy men, a fall in resting blood pressure seen after a first 600 mg dose was lost after 7 days of repeated dosing. In an uncontrolled long-term epilepsy study, seizure reductions were maintained through 156 weeks.

How long after stopping is CBD out of my system?

After regular oral dosing CBD has a half-life of about 56 to 61 hours, so the blood level halves roughly every 2.5 days. Traces can be detected for weeks. In one study of healthy adults, raised liver enzymes returned to normal within 1 to 2 weeks of stopping.

This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

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