Hi! I am on birth control pills that have 24 active pills and 4 iron only pills. I have 4 kids and am 33 years old. I first got my period at 10. It has always been very regular, even before taking birth control pills. For the last 6 months or so, I have continued to have menstrual cramps, back aches, bloating, headaches, achey all over, etc. a few days before and a few days after my period starts. But my "period" is only about 2 days of very light spotting and it is always dark and brown. Most things I have found say that you will have more pain with more bleeding. If you have less bleeding from bc pills, then you should have less pain. My pain is worse than it's been in years and I am not even really bleeding. Any ideas what is causing the extreme menstrual pain? And what should I do about it?