Thats strange that cyclobenzaprine would increase pain at any point during a 10yr long regiment.

I struggle with lumbar pain caused by lumbar stenosis (narrowed spinal canal) which was severely exacerbated by 3 slipped discs (L3L4,L4L5, L5S1) in 2011. I used to surf and skateboard, and do cross-country/track...so I've sustained many kinetic injuries. I also had a ~6inch growth spurt late in high school when I stopped running & skating. My midback was always in pain; eventually someone noticed 9-10 perfect , evenly spaced red lines across my lower/mid back that I didn't have 12 months prior.

I recall telling adults, jokingly, that it felt like my nerves hadn't caught up to bone growth. I'm in my late 30s; and I still can't stretch my hamstrings (I can't sit at 90 degrees with legs extended or touch my toes).

Although my 3mm herniation (tear/opening) and 3 slipped discs (bulging) should be healed by now...the pain recently skyrocketed. I struggled with Sciatica since my lumbar issue, but there was one day in 2022 where it felt like the center of my body was made of dense glass. Sitting down and standing up sent lightning through my buttocks, It actually felt like I was a moment away from severing my spinal chord while being visciously stabbed in the rectum, If you've ever had a tooth filling that felt magnetized by a paper clip in your mouth...it felt like that was occuring at some densely compressed core inside my buttock. I couldn't find relief; and the next day I woke up feeling like my pelvis has been cemented to my L5. I couldn't twist, turn, bend, sit, or lean without feeling like I'd shatter. I finally put my hands on my legs as near to my hip as possible and just exhaled while pushing through the pain until I felt a snap/crackle/ pop at my sacroiliac joint. I'd never felt that pain or simultaneous relief.

Since that day, my pelvis and SI joint are always on fire. And I have to routinely use my hipbone to leverage my lumbar into a decompressing position until it cracks. My girlfriend will hear the crack as I involuntarily scream out. Then I'll say how good it felt, which confuses her because I forget to explain that I'm referring to the sensation of relief immediately following the painful crack.

I've been so focused on the pain and how to relieve it that I consistently forget how essential (and pain-relieving) it was for me to strength my core/trans-abdominus muscle (TA muscle). It's so weak that tensing/tightening it is actually difficult--I've forgotten how to map the nerve pathway to my abdomen to purposely tighten my core. It also is exhausting walking around all day while I consciously tighten my abdomen, as if I'm trying to hold my breath, force a 6-pack, cause a hernia, and avoid defecating all at once. Eventually, opioids and muscle relaxants were my crutch.

I always remember what a doctor said as a warning (because he was prescribing opioids & cyclobenzaprine), "these meds will help relieve the pain you have right now because your back muscles are visibly spasming. Without the spasms...and without addressing your core to strengthen your lower back, your lumbar will become so unstable...it will be nothing more than a lone Greek column waiting to topple over. Your ribcage supports your upper back, but you need support around your lumbar. If you don't strengthen those muscles until engaging your TA muscle is second nature, no amount of pills will help fix the pain you'll have from that."

It turns out he was very right. I wonder if muscle relaxants over time are responsible for a similar increase in worsening pain elsewhere in the body.