Andrea My daughter was on Cortef for 10 yrs (starting she was 3yrs. We went through various dosages and changes through this time. As I read your letter, some questions came to mind. Question #1 Does your son take several doses throughout the day or is he given one dose in the morning and one at night? When my daughter was first put on cortef, we gave her three doses (once with breakfast, the second in the afternoon and one at bedtime). If the amount was uneven, the larger dose was always given at bedtime. The endo told us to give the larger dose at night to help with the 3 AM surge in the body's hormone production. When the endo switched her to 2 doses per day, my daughter complained of headaches and a feeling on unwellness. We went back to the 3 doses. If was inconvenient to break the tablets and stagger the amount over 3 X per day, but we did it anyway. I'm convinced that this was better. Question #2 This one may seem silly but here it is anyway. Have you checked with your pharmacy to see if the pills may have been damaged in some way or even if it is the right stuff? When we were new to all this, a pharmacist accidently substituted my daughter's prescription of hydrocortisone with cortisone acetate. I understand that some take the cortisone acetate successfully, but my daughter did not seem to be absorbing it. I knew after 2 days that something was wrong. For all its worth! Good luck! Peg PS My daughter has been on prednisone and florinef for the past year. And guess what! She grew a 1/2 inch in that time.