Firstly, Happy New Year and thanks to everyone for your generosity in sharing wonderful advice and insights on this forum.
As a newbie to all this and in preparation for what I knew lay ahead, I read all the tips on managing the stress of events like Christmas and how to cope with meds whilst doing long haul flights. I thought it might be helpful to someone to know how it went for me. I’ve been on Pred since August 22 and currently on 8mg. The lead up to Christmas was even more stressful than usual this year as we were preparing to go away on 27/12 and we also had a huge family gathering on 18/12 with family from overseas. Our trip means we will be away for 5 months, crossing various time zones, our first stop being our son’s home in Adelaide, Australia. The family gathering was a lunch for 50 people which I was responsible for coordinating followed by hosting Christmas and Boxing Day for 16 of us in our home. As if this wasn’t enough stress, on Christmas Eve, I started with the dreaded cough & cold virus that everyone in the UK seems to have at the moment! I normally take my 8mg Pred at 8am.
My strategy for taking my meds whilst travelling was: Tuesday 27th December 8am 5mg. 12 hours later 3mg. 10 hours later 5mg. 8 hours later 3mg. 5 hours later (approximately 8am Adelaide time on Thursday) 8mg. This meant that I took a total of 24mg over a time of 38 hours.
The results: Just starting our fifth full day in Australia, so far, so good. I have had no increase in pain or stiffness but have been feeling very tired - that could be as a result of the virus and jet lag - so all in all, I’m feeling good and thoroughly enjoying the warm weather and blue skies.
Reducing
Hip replacement so far so good 
Heavy cold and avfall
So far, so good!
Long haul flights
