dear ileana, abdominal cramps are, unfortunately, an usual symptom during and before the periods. Cramps are caused by prostaglandins which cause uterus contracion. The contracting muscles help push the blood out through a girl s vagina during her period. So this contractions can be mild or very unpleasant and can vary from month to month. Also other hormonal disbalances due to menstruation cause nausea, vomiting, headache, fatigue and abdominal swelling. Girls who are younger when their periods start, who have longer periods or heavier blood flow and smoking are a risk factors for cramps. Heartburn can be related to this story but also it can mean tah you have some kind of gastric problems such as GERD, Ulcer/gastritis so you should do gastroscopy to find the exactly whats going on. Use analgetics( nonsteroid) for pain relief because they decrease prostaglandin production in blood. To be sure that you re healthy do gynaecology examination and pelvic ultrasound to check your uterus and ovaries and steroid hormone levels. Wish you good health, Dr. Ivan Romic (Rominho)