NAD+ Dosage Chart.
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide is not dosed like a peptide. It is sold in 500 to 1,000 mg lyophilised vials and given in milligrams, roughly a thousand times more material than a typical research-peptide dose. This chart covers at-home subcutaneous use, and says plainly where each number came from.
50 mg subcutaneously, three times a week is where most home protocols land, which is 50 units on a U-100 syringe if you mixed a 500 mg vial with 5 mL of bacteriostatic water. Start at 25 mg for the first fortnight to see how the site reacts. 100 mg is a full 1 mL and the practical ceiling for one injection site. These are conventions, not trial findings.
This chart is the condensed version. For the full write-up (mechanism, precursors, clinic pricing and the rest), read the full NAD+ dosing guide.
Dosage Protocols
Units assume a 500 mg vial reconstituted with 5 mL bacteriostatic water = 100 mg/mL, so 1 unit on a U-100 syringe = 1 mg. Different setup? Use the calculator. These are the ranges home users converge on; no human trial of subcutaneous NAD+ has been published.
Low enough to find out how your skin reacts before you commit to a full vial.
Why this dose+
The injection site is the limiting factor with subcutaneous NAD+, not the systemic dose. A quarter-mL draw tells you within two weeks whether stinging, redness or a lasting lump is going to be your problem, and that is cheaper to learn at 25 mg than at 100 mg.
The dose most home protocols settle on. Half a syringe, three times a week.
Why this dose+
This is convention rather than a trial finding: no human study of subcutaneous NAD+ has been published at any dose. It sits where it does because half a millilitre is comfortable in one site and 150 mg a week is roughly what a 500 mg vial supports for three weeks and change.
A full 1 mL barrel, and the practical ceiling for a single site.
Why this dose+
Anything above 100 mg has to be split across two sites, because 1 mL is the usual practical limit for one subcutaneous injection. There is no evidence that 100 mg does more than 50 mg, since no human dose-response curve for NAD+ exists by any route, so treat this as the top of the range people use, not a target to work towards.
- At 100 mg/mL, 100 mg is a full 1 mL: the entire barrel of a U-100 syringe.
- 1 mL is the usual practical ceiling for one subcutaneous site, so more gets split in two.
- Stinging and a temporary lump are the common complaints, not systemic effects.
- Rotate abdomen and thigh, and go slower if the site burns.
- No human dose-response curve for NAD+ exists by any route.
- When it was infused, the body cleared or excreted it about as fast as it arrived.
- That makes 100 mg a ceiling people use, not a dose shown to beat 50 mg.
- If 50 mg does nothing over 8 to 12 weeks, doubling it is a guess, not a next step.
Weekly Schedule
Pick one row and keep it identical week to week. Spacing doses out beats bunching them, since nothing accumulates in a useful way.
Missed a day? Skip it and carry on. Nothing accumulates here in a way that justifies doubling up, and no published work establishes how often subcutaneous doses should repeat, so treat this grid as convention rather than a finding.
NAD+ Reconstitution Calculator
Enter your vial size, the water you added, and the dose you want. A 500 mg vial with 5 mL of bacteriostatic water gives 100 mg/mL, which makes one unit on a U-100 syringe equal one milligram. The 25, 50 and 100 mg presets are the doses home protocols converge on, not trial figures.
Double-click a preset to edit it
Double-click a preset to edit it
Double-click a preset to edit it
Standard insulin syringe
Concentration
100.00 mg/mL
1 unit = 1000 mcg
Draw volume
0.500 mL
= 50.00 mg ÷ 100.00 mg/mL
Units to draw (1 mL syringe)
50.0 units
1 mL Syringe
50.0 IUFrom Vial to Injection in 6 Steps
Alcohol swab the NAD+ vial and the bacteriostatic water vial, and let both air-dry before you pierce them.
Run the bacteriostatic water down the inside wall of the 500 mg vial rather than squirting it onto the powder cake. Five mL gives 100 mg/mL, which is the strength every unit count on this page is built on.
Roll the vial gently until the solution is completely clear. NAD+ solutions often carry a faint colour; anything cloudy, particulate or visibly darkened does not go into you.
Use a fresh U-100 insulin syringe and the calculator. At 100 mg/mL, one unit is one milligram; 50 mg is 50 units and 100 mg fills the whole 1 mL barrel.
Abdomen or thigh, staying clear of the navel, scar tissue and bruises. Move to a fresh spot every injection, because repeat sticks in one place are what turn a temporary lump into a lasting one.
Refrigerate the mixed vial at 2–8 °C and never freeze it. Bacteriostatic water is preserved with benzyl alcohol, which is where the usual 28-day window comes from. There is no published stability data for reconstituted compounded NAD+, so any expiry you are quoted is the compounder assuming rather than measuring. Needles go in a sharps container.
One 500 mg vial is five to ten doses at the 50 to 100 mg range. Less water raises the concentration and shortens the draw: 500 mg in 2.5 mL gives 200 mg/mL, so a 100 mg dose becomes 50 units instead of a full barrel. Recalculate the unit counts on this page if you do that, since they assume 100 mg/mL.
What to Expect
This timeline is short because the research is short. Everything below is either a measured result from one of the two published human studies or an explicit gap.
The most predictable thing subcutaneous NAD+ does is local. Expect burning during the push and a small firm lump that settles over a day or two. Injecting slowly and letting the vial reach room temperature both help.
There is no loading phase to feel. Anything noticed this early is more likely the routine than the compound, and no study has measured a subcutaneous dose at any timepoint.
Energy and mental clarity are what home users describe in this window. None of it is controlled data, and NAD+ has never beaten placebo on an outcome measure, so treat your own before-and-after as the only evidence you have.
No study of injected NAD+ has run past 30 days. Long-run use is unmapped in either direction, which is the argument for taking a break at 8 to 12 weeks rather than running it indefinitely.
Oral precursors have more human data than injected NAD+. A six-week randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial found nicotinamide riboside well tolerated and effective at stimulating NAD+ metabolism in healthy middle-aged and older adults, and the 2026 systematic review found oral NR and NMN consistently demonstrated biochemical target engagement across 33 human studies.
Feeling Something? Check Here
- Burning or stinging while you push.
- Redness at the site for an hour or two.
- A small firm lump that softens over a day.
- Brief flushing or warmth.
- A lump that is still hard after several days.
- A site that stays red, hot or painful.
- Nausea or a racing heart after injecting.
- A raised A1c or new blood-sugar problems.
- Difficulty breathing or wheeze.
- Swelling of the lips, tongue or face.
- Hives or a spreading rash.
- Chest pain or pressure.
No FDA-approved injectable NAD+ exists, so every vial is compounded or research-grade. Buy from a supplier that publishes third-party testing.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding, or under 18: there is zero human data.
- Unstable cardiac disease, a known arrhythmia or uncontrolled hypertension: the only tolerability study on record found chest pressure and raised heart rate in every participant.
- A previous injection that caused hives, facial or tongue swelling, or breathing difficulty.
- Known hypersensitivity to benzyl alcohol, the preservative in bacteriostatic water.
- Significant renal impairment: Grant 2019 found intact NAD+ and methylnicotinamide excreted in urine at six hours, so clearance depends on kidney function.
- Active liver disease or hepatic impairment: Grant reported liver enzyme changes deemed not clinically significant, and the 2026 review found alkaline phosphatase falling at 30 days, both in healthy livers.
- Active cancer or cancer treatment, without your oncologist's explicit sign-off: NAD metabolism is an active target of cancer drug development.
- Any vial that is cloudy, discoloured, or not labelled as manufactured sterile for injection.
No study of injected NAD+ has been large enough to produce a validated contraindication list. The stops above come from what the two published studies observed and from how the compound is supplied, not from trial findings.
FAQ
How many milligrams is a normal subcutaneous dose?+
50 mg three times a week is where most home protocols land, with 25 mg as a starting point and 100 mg as the practical ceiling for a single site. None of these come from a trial; no human study of subcutaneous NAD+ has been published at any dose.
How do I reconstitute a 500 mg vial?+
Add 5 mL of bacteriostatic water down the inside wall and swirl until clear. That gives 100 mg/mL, so 1 unit on a U-100 syringe is 1 mg: a 50 mg dose is 50 units. Keep the mixed vial refrigerated and use it within about four weeks.
Why does the injection sting?+
NAD+ solution is acidic relative to tissue, and the volumes are large for a subcutaneous shot. Room-temperature solution, a slow push and rotating sites all reduce it. A burn that fades within minutes is normal; one that leaves a hard lump lasting days means use a smaller volume per site.
Is subcutaneous the same as getting an IV?+
No. Absorption is much slower, which is why you avoid the cramping and chest pressure people report on a fast drip. It also means the only human measurements that exist, all of them intravenous, do not transfer to what you are doing.
How long does a 500 mg vial last?+
At 50 mg three times a week, a 500 mg vial covers ten doses, a little over three weeks. At 100 mg it is five doses. Once mixed, use it within roughly four weeks regardless of how much is left.
Is injectable NAD+ FDA-approved?+
No. There is no FDA-approved injectable NAD+ product, so every vial in circulation is compounded or research-grade material. Buy from a supplier that publishes third-party testing.
Is oral NAD+ worth taking instead?+
Oral NAD+ is broken down in the gut before it reaches circulation, which is the usual argument for injecting it. Precursors like NMN and NR are the oral route people use instead, and they have more human data than injected NAD+ does.
Should I cycle it?+
No study has run past 30 days, so there is no evidence either way. Most home protocols run 8 to 12 weeks and then break, which is a reasonable default when the long-run picture is simply unknown.
Sources
Only two studies have ever given NAD+ itself to people: a 2019 pilot that infused 750 mg over six hours into eight healthy men, and a 2026 retrospective chart review of six clients who received 500 mg on four consecutive days. Neither measured a clinical outcome.
- ·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+. Front Aging Neurosci. 2019. PMID 31572171: the only human pharmacokinetic study.
- ·Grant 2019 full text (PMC6751327): 750 mg NAD+ in normal saline over 6 h at ~2 mg/min (3 µmol/min); eight men aged 30–55 plus three saline controls; no adverse events observed; plasma NAD+ and metabolites unchanged for the first two hours.
- ·Reyna K et al. Intravenous infusion of NAD+ versus nicotinamide riboside: a retrospective tolerability pilot study in a real-world setting. Front Aging. 2026. PMID 41704678.
- ·Reyna 2026 full text: 500 mg lyophilised NAD+ reconstituted with bacteriostatic water and diluted into 500 mL saline; n=6 NAD+ (mean age 29.4 ± 3.17, 2 female / 4 male) vs n=8 nicotinamide riboside; 97 ± 56 min vs 37 min; all six reported moderate-to-severe symptoms; clients controlled their own infusion rate; standard biomarkers drawn at baseline and 30 days; dried blood spot NAD+ assays could not detect changes due to insufficient sampling.
- ·Gallagher C, Emmanuel OO. NAD+ supplementation for anti-aging and wellness: a PRISMA-guided systematic review. Ageing Res Rev. 2026. PMID 41655607: 113 studies screened; no eligible outcomes trial evaluated intravenous or intramuscular NAD+ itself; oral NR and NMN showed consistent biochemical target engagement across 33 human studies.
- ·NCT06382688: randomised, placebo-controlled trial of IV nicotinamide riboside chloride vs IV NAD+, n=53; the active comparator arm is 500 mg NAD+ in 500 mL saline, and a saline placebo arm sits in Cohort 1 (ClinicalTrials.gov API record).
- ·Liu L et al. Quantitative Analysis of NAD Synthesis-Breakdown Fluxes. Cell Metab. 2018. PMID 29685734. Conducted in C57BL mice plus human cell lines, not in human subjects: intravenous NR/NMN delivered intact molecules to multiple tissues, while the same agents given orally were metabolised to nicotinamide in the liver.
- ·Martens CR et al. Chronic nicotinamide riboside supplementation is well-tolerated and elevates NAD+ in healthy middle-aged and older adults. Nat Commun. 2018. PMID 29599478: two 6-week randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover periods.
- ·DailyMed (NIH) drug label search for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide: four results, all non-injectable (a transdermal patch, a gummy and two tablets). There is no FDA-approved injectable NAD+ product.
The longer treatment of all of this (precursors versus NAD+ itself, clinic pricing, and how to vet a compounder) lives in the full NAD+ dosing guide.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational and research purposes only and is not medical advice. There is no FDA-approved injectable NAD+ product, so every vial in circulation is compounded or research-grade material. The doses described here are convention rather than trial-derived figures: no human study of subcutaneous NAD+ has been published at any dose. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before starting any peptide protocol. PeptideDeck is not responsible for individual use.