sounds like how i felt when this all started. i "injured" my rhomboid (muscle and/or tendon) early on and that complicated things for awhile; initially doctors just labeled it as localized myofacial pain syndrome.

i was lucky to find a very good manual physical therapist. maybe you can find a good PT to help you.

for me, it is inflammation at the entheses (i've had my share of tendonitises and a few torn tendons as well). for me, the muscles spasm in response to the inflammation in the tendons and ligaments at the entheses. so ultimately for me, getting the inflammation under control is key. however, working on the muscles as well helps. one kinda helps the other in my experience. i've been on zanaflex since 2001 and it not only helps my muscles, but once i started taking it, my tendons felt better too. i still notice it, like this past week, when i took the zanaflex, not only were my calves not so tight, but my plantar fasciitis was better as well. for me, the muscle relaxant is only helpful.

when my muscle spasms are bad, activity does make them worse. the PT had to get my muscles out of crisis mode before they could tolerate (strengthening) exercises.

i also found a physiatrist (dr of physical / rehabilitative medicine) to be even more useful in determining the root of the problem. my physiatrists were the doctors to send me to rheumatology. the ones that recognized it was inflammatory arthritis. and the ones that could tell it was not a number of other things that they saw and worked with every day.

if yours is also inflammatory in nature, then a good rheumatologist too. it took me several tries. it can be a tricky thing when everything is so involved that its hard to see what is causing what. for me, things had to be settled down a bit first before we could determine cause and effect. the PT and physiatrist helped me get to that point. a good rheumatologist probably could as well, i think there are multiple paths to the same end point.


sue

Spondyloarthropathy, HLAB27 negative
Humira (still methylprednisone for flares, just not as often. Aleve if needed, rarely.)
LDN/zanaflex/flector patches over SI/ice
vits C, D. probiotics. hyaluronic acid. CoQ, Mg, Ca, K.
chiro
walk, bike
no dairy (casein sensitivity), limited eggs, limited yeast (bread)