17, almost 18. My periods, for the first two days, are so heavy that I often have to change my tampon every 1-1.5 hours (S and S+ are the only ones I use now). And the cramps aren't usually in my stomach - it feels more like...the only way I can describe it is a barbed knife being twisted in my vagina. The pain radiates down my upper thighs and up my hips and I also get hot flashes, diarrhea, and nausea. I often can't eat because of it and standing/walking is near excruciating along with the motion of sitting down. Is this normal? I really don't think I have endo - my ex had it and she seemed to be in a considerately higher amount of pain than me, but I'm not sure since I don't have the insurance to see a doctor yet. I do try pain medicines - ibu and aceto generally don't work for anything and the only thing Midol seems to do is lighten my flow a bit.