I have often taken hydrocortisone on an empty stomach for a long as I can remember (45 yrs?) and my stomach is fine. Also, I never took my medication 3x per day, just twice a day and I am 5'4"; taller than one of my non-CAH sisters. A half life of 6-8 hours for hydrocortisone does NOT mean that hydrocortisone only lasts 6-8 hours in the body, it means that half of the initial dose STILL REMAINS after 6-8 hours. Half-Life: The period of time required for the concentration or amount of drug in the body to be reduced to exactly one-half of a given concentration or amount. http://www.bumc.bu.edu/www/busm/pharmacology/Programmed/glossaryFrame3.html#Half-Life "It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble, it’s what you know for sure that ain’t so." Mark Twain