My flow has been extremely heavy. A high absorbency tampon doesn't last any more than an hour. I used an overnight pad when I went to bed, and had some major leakage when I woke up this morning. I've been "doubling up" today, and using a high absorbency tampon with a high absorbency pad, but I still find myself needing to change those out every 2-3 hours. While I've had heavy flows before, I've never had a tampon last less than 4-6 hours, and I've never had any leakage using an overnight pad. 

It's been quite a few years since I actually had cramps in my adominal area. Usually my period brings backaches, but, other than that, I don't feel a single thing while I'm on my period. This period, however, brought some major cramps, and I've been feeling a little nauseous. My cramps have been so painful that I have to stop whatever I'm doing until the pain goes away for a while. I took two tablets of Midol this morning (8am EST). That was roughly two hours ago, but I'm not noticing it make any difference. I'm still getting painful cramps. 

So I have a few questions, and I'm looking for some bits of advice. 

(1) Is this something I should be really concerned about? Is it just because I'm new to my birth control? Should I be experiencing less painful periods after a few months of birth control, or is this something I should be talking to my doctor about? 

(2) Do you ever have extremely heavy flows? If you do, how do you keep up with it? I'm a student, and I work. Going to the bathroom every hour or two really isn't an option. And I prefer not to wake up in blood! 

(3) How do you get through bad cramps and menstural pain? Especially when your job involves being up and moving for several hours at a time. 

I want to thank you in advanced for reading all of this. I look forward to hearing what you have to say. Thanks :)