Worried about IUD removal (painful period dread)

Howdy, I've had a Mirena IUD in for 3.5 years so I've got a little while left, but whenever I think about when the day comes to have it removed and whether I'd want another inserted (alternative is try to conceive) I'm terrified because I know my period pain will return.

This brings me to the crunch, I've never known if my painful periods were 'normal' so i wanted to hear from the experiences of thousands of other period people.

What I mainly remember (ages 12-15 so ten+ years ago, I've been on hormonal BC since then);

- Knowing my period had started because I'd wake up at 3-4am in so much pain I couldn't sleep

- Gradually moving through different pain meds as they seemed to become less effective over time, only thing that worked ultimately was codeine which made me sleep, or taking much more than recommended dose of ibuprofen (up to 10-12 pills a day)

- Feeling like I had a fever, wanting to lie on cold tiles and feeling shivery

- not being able to eat due to nausea which made taking pain meds difficult.

However this would only last the 'normal' two days, but I'd be incapacitated. I've been led to believe this is normal, so I guess I just want some sort of confirmation that it is, and that when I'm eventually off BC it's just going to suck. It sounds dumb but I'd feel like I spent my life dreading those two days. I did have a brief break from the pill 4ish years ago to try and go au naturale (dumb decision) but it went right back to hell.