you paid for this: menstrual cramps and the ibuprofen police

I asked for ibuprofen at the gynecologist the other day, and the medical assistant paused and then told me she'd either be back with some or the doc herself would give me some. I changed into the gown with the paper thing over my lap, waiting for the doctor. I've only seen her once before, but when she came in, I remembered her face and energy right off the bat. She put my (third) mirena IUD in six weeks ago and I was here for a check-up including strings and a "woman's annual" which means checking my tits for lumps (just using hands) and giving me a pap smear. I usually take ibuprofen ahead of the gynecologist because cramping is inevitable. Cramping is inevitable in general, but if you're going to have a doctor clamp a cold speculum on a sensitive and small part of your personal anatomy, ibuprofen helps. When I got the IUD a few weeks ago, like I mentioned before, I'd taken ibuprofen ahead of time, so when the doctor offered me ibuprofen, I told her I'd already taken some. And she said, "Good! I was going to offer some otherwise."