Hi
It has been 2 weeks since Paige's surgery! She is feeling OK, not great...having some back pain and having lots of leakage problems with the bag, which is a whole 'nother post! 
Anyhoo, when she went into the hospital, she was on 10 mg Prednisone. After surgery they put her on a stress dose of Hydrocortisone and she is currently tapering down. She came home from the hospital on Tuesday and at that time was taking 15 mg 3 times a day (45 mg total) She took that for 2 days and then dropped to 10 mg 3 times a day (30 mg), also for 2 days. Today she dropped to 10 mg in the morning and 5 mg in the evening and will be on this schedule for a few weeks. I know nothing about Hydrocortisone, but was told it is a weaker steroid with fewer side effects than Prednisone. And it is easier to taper off of than Prednisone. I just feel so out of our comfort zone since we have been dealing with Pred for the past 3 years. At least then we would know that she would have aches and pains for 2 days each time she dropped down...now we don't know what is going on!
The endocrinologsit nurse came to see us in the hospital and she made such a big hoopla about administering a stress dose in case Paige gets a cold or other illness. Then she gave us this injection to use when a BIG emergency occurs 
To be honest, it really freaked me out! I am blanking on the name of the injection.
Sorry this became so long winded. I guess my question is has anyone used Hydrocortisone instead of Pred? Does this taper seem too fast? Any other info you want to share? 