Painful periods?

[ThatFatGirl]

If this continues tomorrow, I will see a doctor, but since it's Sunday and my pain isn't enough to send me to an ER, I'll ask y'all here if you have any thoughts about this.. and thank you if you do.

Friday night/Saturday morning at 2:00 a.m. I was getting ready to go to bed when I experienced a very sharp pain in my lower right abdomen. The pain was very intense and in a very specific spot. My period had started just a few hours earlier. I thought perhaps this was incredibly bad menstrual cramping, but then I also have PCOS and imagined that perhaps a cyst burst or something... The pain was very bad and for a moment I thought about driving myself to the ER, but my insurance has changed, I'm now on my new husband's plan in OH, I have no card yet, and know nothing about my new plan, I just feared it would be incredibly complicated and potentially expensive, so I took a muscle relaxer (Flexeril) leftover from a previous bad back experience and two Advils and went to bed. I fell right asleep and thanks to the muscle relaxer, actually slept until noon, so obviously the pain lessened (thank goodness).. when I finally got up, the pain was still there, but the intensity much, much lessened. It didn't change much through the day and this morning, I would say it is probably even less painful than yesterday, but it is definitely still there. I feel it when I lean into it or get up from a seated position.

I've never really had painful periods and my PMS has been limited to an afternoon of cramping and one day of weepiness. What is kind of odd is that I never really had PMS symptoms until this past year, I assume because of age - I'm now 38 - and suppose I could be creeping into a menopausal stage?

I'm on birth control pills and started my new pack for the month this morning. I'm hoping that the hormones will begin to regulate and my cycle will quickly end and perhaps the pain will go away with it.

Anyone with a little time to spare have any thoughts on what could be going on? Thanks!