The reference dose for at-home NAD+ injections is 50mg per subcutaneous injection: once a day for the first three days, then every other day, which works out at roughly 150mg to 200mg a week. If you want a gentler start, 25mg for the first one or two injections is a sensible step. Flushing and nausea are dose dependent, so stay at or below 100mg per injection and 500mg per week unless a prescriber advises otherwise.
This guide is for adults who have a pen or vial kit in front of them, or are about to, and want the numbers laid out plainly: how much, how often, what that looks like on the device, how long a kit lasts, and when it makes sense to adjust. It also sets out honestly where the published evidence ends and common practice begins.
Educational content, not medical advice. NAD+ is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Speak to a licensed prescriber before starting any injectable protocol or changing your dose, especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have active or historic cancer, or take regular medication.
The short answer: 50mg per injection
Subcutaneous NAD+ is taken in small, frequent doses. That is the main difference from an IV drip, where 250mg to 500mg is delivered in a single sitting over two to four hours. Under the skin, the UK at-home market has converged on the same number: 50mg per injection, whether the product is a pen cartridge or a vial and syringe. Clinical guidance from the United States sits in the same place, with providers starting people between 20mg and 50mg and settling most of them between 50mg and 100mg.
The reference protocol we publish, and the one printed in the quick-start guide inside each kit, has three phases:
- Days 1 to 3 (loading): 50mg once a day. If you would rather test the water, 25mg for the first one or two injections, then 50mg.
- From day 4 (ongoing): 50mg every other day, which is three or four injections a week.
- After the first month (maintenance, optional): some people settle at 50mg twice a week. Others stay on alternate days. Both are within range; go by how you feel and what your prescriber says.
If you are new to NAD+ altogether, the complete UK guide to NAD+ injections covers the background: what the molecule does, why levels fall with age, and how injections compare with capsules and drips.
NAD+ dosage by phase
| Phase | Dose per injection | Frequency | Weekly total | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gentle start (optional) | 25mg | First one or two injections | Part of week 1 | Learn how you respond at a dose almost nobody notices |
| Loading, days 1 to 3 | 50mg | Once a day | Week 1: about 250mg | Bring levels up quickly and build the habit |
| Ongoing, from day 4 | 50mg | Every other day | 150mg to 200mg | Steady input with fewer injections |
| Maintenance, after month 1 | 50mg | Twice a week | 100mg | Hold the gains with the least effort, if it suits you |
| Upper limit without a prescriber | 100mg | No more than 500mg a week | Beyond this is a medical decision, not a default next step | |
The weekly totals are deliberately modest. A single 500mg clinic drip delivers in one sitting what this protocol spreads across two to three weeks, and that is the point: small, frequent doses keep levels steadier and avoid the chest tightness and nausea that make drips slow.
Why 50mg, and when 25mg makes sense
The side effects people associate with NAD+ are mostly about how much arrives and how fast. In clinic infusions, staff slow the drip when a patient feels chest tightness, warmth or nausea, and the feeling eases. The same logic applies under the skin, on a much smaller scale.
50mg is the dose at which most people feel the benefit over the following weeks and, at most, a few minutes of warmth after injecting. It is also the dose that divides cleanly into every kit: ten doses per 500mg cartridge, twenty per 1000mg vial.
25mg is worth considering for the first one or two injections if you are sensitive to new things, have never self-injected, or simply want to meet the molecule gently. It tells you how you respond before you commit to the full dose. There is no need to stay there for a week: if the first 25mg injection is uneventful, move to 50mg.
What the dose looks like on the pen and the syringe
Both formats ship pre-mixed at a fixed strength, so there is nothing to reconstitute and no mixing maths. What differs is how you read the dose.
| Dose | Pen (500mg in 3ml): dial mark | Vial (1000mg in 5ml): U-100 insulin syringe |
|---|---|---|
| 25mg | 0.15ml · 15 clicks | 0.125ml · about 12 units |
| 50mg | 0.3ml · 30 clicks | 0.25ml · 25 units |
| 75mg (prescriber only) | 0.45ml · 45 clicks | 0.375ml · about 37 units |
| 100mg (prescriber only) | 0.6ml · 60 clicks | 0.5ml · 50 units |
Pen. Each cartridge holds 500mg of NAD+ in 3ml, which is about 167mg per ml. The dial is graduated in units, one click per unit, where 100 units equals 1ml, so 30 clicks is 0.3ml and 50mg. Turn the dial until the window shows your mark, and the pen stops there. It cannot deliver more than you dialled.
Vial and syringe. Each vial holds 1000mg in 5ml, which is 200mg per ml. On a U-100 insulin syringe, every 5 units is 10mg of NAD+, so 50mg is 25 units. Draw slowly, check the mark at eye level, and tap out any large bubbles before injecting.
Note that the two formats have different strengths, so the same milligram dose is a different mark on each. The NAD+ dosage calculator converts any dose into the exact mark for either device.
Dosage by goal: energy, recovery and sleep
It is worth being straightforward here. No published trial has compared subcutaneous NAD+ doses for different goals, so there is no evidence-based "energy dose" or "sleep dose". What changes with your goal is mostly timing and rhythm, at the same 50mg. The table below reflects common practice and what customers tell us, not clinical proof.
| What you want to support | Typical dose | Rhythm | Timing people tend to prefer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day-to-day energy | 50mg | Every other day | Morning or mid-morning, after breakfast |
| Recovery from training | 50mg | Every other day, or aligned with training days | Morning on training days, away from the session itself |
| Sleep and travel routines | 50mg | Every other day | Morning, not evening; some people feel more alert for a few hours |
| General maintenance | 50mg | Twice a week | Whenever is easiest to keep consistent |
Two patterns hold across all of these. Consistency does more than any single large dose, and morning dosing suits most people better than late in the day. If the biology behind these goals is new to you, what NAD+ is and how it works explains the role it plays in energy production and the body clock.
How long a kit lasts
Dose and frequency decide how far a cartridge or vial goes. The sums are simple: total milligrams divided by your dose, then spread across your rhythm.
| Format | Total NAD+ | Doses at 50mg | On the reference protocol | On twice-weekly maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One pen cartridge | 500mg | 10 | About two and a half weeks, including the loading days | Five weeks |
| Two pen cartridges | 1000mg | 20 | About five weeks | Ten weeks |
| One vial | 1000mg | 20 | About five weeks | Ten weeks |
| Two vials | 2000mg | 40 | About ten weeks | Twenty weeks |
Use a fresh 32G, 6mm needle for every injection. Needles are single use, so count them the same way you count doses.
When to adjust your dose
Adjust gradually, one change at a time, and give each change a week or two before judging it.
Signs the dose may be too much for now
- Flushing, warmth or chest tightness that lasts more than a few minutes after injecting.
- Nausea or light-headedness, particularly on an empty stomach.
- Feeling wired or sleeping badly after a late dose.
The usual responses are to drop to 25mg for a few days, eat first, inject earlier in the day, inject more slowly, or space doses out to twice a week.
If you feel nothing after a few weeks
NAD+ is not a stimulant, and some people notice little in the first fortnight. Before increasing anything, check the basics: are you dosing consistently, and is the product stored in the fridge away from light? Going above 50mg per injection is a conversation for your prescriber, not a default next step, and nothing published shows that larger doses produce better outcomes.
Missed doses
Simply pick up at the next scheduled dose. Do not double up to compensate.
Why injection doses look small next to IV and capsules
People often compare a 50mg injection with a 500mg drip or a 500mg NMN capsule and assume the injection is weak. The numbers describe different things.
| Route | Typical dose | Frequency | Weekly total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subcutaneous injection | 50mg of NAD+ | Daily for three days, then every other day | 150mg to 200mg |
| IV infusion | 250mg to 500mg of NAD+ | Weekly, over two to four hours | 250mg to 500mg |
| Oral precursors (NMN or NR) | Commonly 250mg to 1000mg in trials | Daily | Not directly comparable: these are precursors, not NAD+ |
Across two or three weeks, an injection protocol and a single lower-dose drip deliver a similar amount of NAD+. The injection spreads it over many small doses instead of one long sitting, which is why it can be done at home in under a minute and why levels stay steadier. Oral precursors have to survive digestion and then be converted, so their milligram figures cannot be compared like for like. We look at cost and time in detail in NAD+ injections vs IV drips.
What the evidence says about dosing, and what it does not
What is reasonably well supported. NAD+ falls with age in human tissue. Infused NAD+ is taken up by the body, as shown in a 2019 pilot study that tracked plasma and urine during a six-hour infusion. Oral precursors raise blood NAD+ in a dose-related way in healthy adults. A 2020 benefit and risk analysis concluded that NAD+ therapy appears well tolerated.
What is not established. There are no large, published dose-finding trials of subcutaneous NAD+ in healthy adults. The 50mg figure comes from clinical practice and tolerability across providers, not from a trial that compared doses head to head. Nobody has shown that a higher dose produces better outcomes, and there is no human evidence that any dose extends lifespan or treats a disease.
That gap is the reason to treat the reference protocol as a sensible starting framework, to stay within it unless a prescriber advises otherwise, and to be wary of anyone quoting precise doses for precise outcomes.
Who should not use NAD+ without medical advice
Do not start NAD+ without speaking to a doctor or prescriber if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have active or historic cancer, have atrial fibrillation, are immunosuppressed or have had an organ transplant, or have Lyme disease. NAD+ injections are for adults only. If you take regular medication, check for interactions before your first dose.
Which kit fits which protocol
- To try the loading days and a couple of weeks beyond: the NAD+ Trial Kit has the pen and one 500mg cartridge, ten doses, at £175.
- To run a full first month on the pen: the NAD+ Discovery Kit has the pen and two 500mg cartridges, twenty doses, at £279.
- For about ten weeks of doses, measured by syringe: the NAD+ Injection Kit, 2 × 1000mg has two sealed vials, forty doses, also £279.
All kits include 32G micro-needles, prep wipes and a sharps bin. Delivery is free across the UK, and you can browse everything in the NAD+ collection.
Frequently asked questions
How much NAD+ should I inject?
The reference dose is 50mg per subcutaneous injection, with 25mg as an optional gentle first step. Confirm your own dose with a prescriber, and do not exceed 100mg per injection without one.
How often should I inject NAD+?
Once a day for the first three days, then every other day, which is three or four injections a week and roughly 150mg to 200mg. After the first month some people settle at twice a week.
How many units is 50mg of NAD+?
On the pen, with a 500mg in 3ml cartridge, 50mg is 0.3ml, which is 30 clicks on the dial. With a 1000mg in 5ml vial and a U-100 insulin syringe, 50mg is 25 units (0.25ml). The two formats have different strengths, so the marks differ.
Can I inject 100mg of NAD+ at once?
100mg is the upper limit we would consider without a prescriber, and most people have no reason to go there. Larger single doses are more likely to cause flushing and nausea, and there is no evidence they work better.
What is the best time of day to inject NAD+?
Most people prefer the morning or mid-morning, after eating something. A late dose can leave some people feeling alert at bedtime.
What if I miss a dose?
Take your next dose at the usual time. Do not double the dose to make up for the one you missed.
Sources
- Massudi H et al. Age-associated changes in oxidative stress and NAD+ metabolism in human tissue. PLoS ONE, 2012.
- Grant R et al. A pilot study investigating changes in the human plasma and urine NAD+ metabolome during a 6 hour intravenous infusion of NAD+. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2019.
- Trammell SAJ et al. Nicotinamide riboside is uniquely and orally bioavailable in mice and humans. Nature Communications, 2016.
- Martens CR et al. Chronic nicotinamide riboside supplementation is well-tolerated and elevates NAD+ in healthy middle-aged and older adults. Nature Communications, 2018.
- Braidy N, Liu Y. NAD+ therapy in age-related degenerative disorders: a benefit/risk analysis. Experimental Gerontology, 2020.
- Covarrubias AJ et al. NAD+ metabolism and its roles in cellular processes during ageing. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2021.
