You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

Hey everybody, it's Mariel.

For a decade plus, when I would get my period, I would have terrible cramps the first day,

and I would just ride it out.

Like I'd be doubled over, unable to leave the house, really. I tried heating pads,

which do help, but for some reason, I didn't think I should take a painkiller. I don't know,

I guess I just thought it was safer to go natural. But then one day when I was maybe 25,

I popped an ibuprofen, and then a short time later, the pain was gone.

It would start to creep back up again a little later.

And then I took another.

And after that, I was over the hump.

My cramps were manageable at that point.

I kind of regretted waiting that long.

I went through so much unnecessary pain.

Pain is a part of the human experience. We get cramps and aches and migraines.

We burn our hands cooking or trip and sprain an ankle. And when you're right in the middle of one

of these moments and feeling that pain deep down in your bones, pain killers, especially the

over-the-counter kind that are easy to get, they feel like a miracle.

Now, they are not without risks.

If you take over-the-counter painkillers the wrong way or take too many of them, you can have serious complications or even die.

And they can mask your problems, too.

Pain is there for a reason.

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