Dealing with painful periods

I've had my period since 2 months before I turned 12-years-old (Lucky me...)
I never found periods painful, for the longest time. I'm now 18-years-old, soon to be 19 and my last few periods have been really painful. I have a few questions for women:

1)...

Should I be worried that they are all of a sudden really painful, or is it just due to body changes? The pain is just in my stomach, like pain you feel when your about to vomit.

2) What foods/drinks should I avoid while on my period?

3) What can I take for the pain? (something you have actually tried and works)

this has kind of been happening to me...so...I feel your pain (no pun intended!) one thing that helps me is a rice bag. it's a cloth bag filled with rice. put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and then put it on those cramps. the heat really helps to soothe it.

regarding food...I've always been told to try and eat as healthily as possible when you're on your period. get those veggies and fruits in...and as much water as possible.

one more thing that helps me is running. it's really surprizing, but running takes the pain away for me. even a brisk walk will do it. anyways, try it!

answwwerman...you always refer to yourself as us. who is us? are you affiliated with an organization or something?

Really painfull periods are not normal as the myth is said to be. Endometriosis is way more comon than you would think. Im a full book on this at the moment as I ran out of reading material and yes I read this book because I found it at a house I was cleaning out lol. You should see your doctor and ask for a second opinion about wether it is endo or not as it is really common and better to be detected early on to treat it. xx