cramps in knees, too?!?! Bad cramps....

Yep, another cramp thread. I did complain about bad cramps at my last annual, and I have been trying to be better about hitting the advil - yesterday I took two in the am and another two before I went to bed (just light spotting then), and got woken up by cramps this am. 5 am or so. Ugh. So now I'm sitting here waiting for the next two advil to hit. Ugh.

My cramps are in the tummy area, but also in my knees/thighs. What is up with that? It's always been that way, and I've always had wicked bad cramps (I ruined my stomach in high school taking advil the wrong way - not only did the Catholic family Dr tell me that the pill won't help bad skin or cramps, he also did not give me advice about how to take pain meds properly).

Is there anything else I can do short of the pill? I'm a little reluctant to go back to the pill - I'm in my mid-thirties and if I remember right that is when all the stroke risks go up again. Since DH finally did his part for BC, we don't need anything else. I wouldn't mind clearer skin, either, but I'm a bit reluctant to mess with hormones, esp after all the hormone replacement worries.

We are done, and honestly, if I knew it would help (and not cause other health issues), I'd tell them to just take it all out! I'm rather tempted to look into it at this point.

ETA: Ok, I am tired of the cramps,the acne, the awful PMS that is probably actually PMDD, so what would be the health issues with taking it all out, other than risks with having surgery?