I'm 34 and I usually have heavy and painful menstrual cycles. It's been like this for almost a decade and Advil usually helps lessen the pain. My last two cycles were different though and I'm afraid it might be something serious because I never went through this much pain before. I was extremely nauseous and threw up. My vision would go black and white. I got dizzy and would have to sit on the floor. I couldn't stand up or walk. The pain was excruciating and I felt like nails were clawing inside me. I took some Advil right when I started my period but it didn't prevent all this and I took two more but still had the pain until late at night. I would shake and shudder and had hot flashes, and had cold sweat. I would shiver but I couldn't tell if I was feeling hot or cold.
I thought maybe I was going into shock from the pain, but I normally have these pains and the heavy and painful period runs in the family (my mom and aunts had this problem too) but I never go in shock or had such symptoms or even throw up or faint. It's only happened these last two cycles and it only happened on the first day.
What could be wrong? And how can I prevent it from happening again?