In the past, there have been many messages on the board about Cortef (the orange liquid hydrocortisone). Many people believe it is a defective drug. Even Upjohn-Pharmacia is beginning to recognize there may be problems with the formulation/suspension. There is a pharmacist who posts here - she is very knowledgable about the whole issue. The discussions have been about a white powder that can settle out in the bottles. It can be very, very difficult to resuspend. Quite a few parents have said their children's levels were way off untiil they switched to the pill form. Others haven't had the same problems with Cortef. My son has been on Cortef since he was 7 days old. We have had good control, good growth etc. I have really been trying to get his endo to switch to pills but she is reluctant at this point due to the difficulty in making minor adjustments in doseage while on the pill. Also, for us it has worked well. When he is a little older (2) I will become more adament about switching to pills to be safe. One precaution I do take, we never get the "pharmacy" bottles. The Cortef is always in its original Upjohn bottle and I am obsessive about shaking it. I never let there be any of the sediment in the bottle. Hope this helps.