So I tried to just do what I did last time, which was Flexeril for the actual spasms and Vicodin to manage the pain. This didn't work. It went away for awhile, but then on Saturday I was in SO MUCH PAIN, that I couldn't get my hip flexors to engage enough to sit down at the movie theater until the Vicodin kicked in. (Although it's always possible that my hip flexors knew what a piece of shit Real Steel was and were trying to spare me.)
I thought I was OK by Sunday and then last night it started up again and I could barely get out of bed this morning. I saw the doctor and she agreed that it's muscle spasms, and that the core exercises I was doing for my abs probably triggered this round. She gave me a shot of ibuprofen in the butt (Bob) and told me to Ice Ice Baby the area. I'm supposed to take the anti-inflamatory (Advil or Motrin) during the day and save the Vicodin to get to sleep at night.
I'm just annoyed that I pretty much have to stop all exercise until the pain stops and then figure out a way to do core work, ride the bike and run, without starting this process all over again. She gave me a referral for some physical therapy. Hopefully they'll have some suggestions. The thing is that as soon as I stop exercising, my food tends to go out of control. I know it's counter-intuitive. I should try to eat better if I know I'm burning less calories, but it never works that way.