Running Form, Injury, and Orthotics

Within the past 8 months, I have received a lot of conflicting advice from medical professionals about a bulging disc injury I suffered in August, 2014 and how to return to running. I'm trying to make sense of it all and am wondering if any of you can direct me to reliable, unbiased information as I make decisions about how to proceed. Please weigh in with your opinions and experiences, as relevant. I know to trust medical professionals rather than that of strangers on the internet, but their opinions conflict, so I'm interested in gathering any information I can.

A bit of information about me. I am a 41 yo woman. I have been running off and on, but mostly on, since I was 9 yo. I have had 3 ACL reconstructions from basketball (+ meniscus cartilage tear), skiing, and kickboxing injuries. Despite having been a competitive runner in my teens and a recreational runner (a couple of 5K's and 10K's each year) in my twenties and thirties, I NEVER experienced a running related injury until I was 40. I had a bulging disc (L5, S1) in my low back, but there was no trauma (accident, fall, lift, etc.) that set it off. The only potential cause was an increase in mileage over what I had been running.

Here's the timeline of events related to my injury and recovery:

August, 2014--stopped training for half marathon and running all together with the onset of symptoms which included pain, numbness, tingling, and loss of strength in my left leg and foot. I could not feel the bottom of my left foot for at least 4 weeks. Walking was a struggle. Could not perform a single leg calf raise on the left during this time either. Visible signs of atrophy in addition to the loss of strength noted both on exam and subjectively. General practitioner prescribes Prednisone and orders an MRI.
[*] September, 2014--Completed the course of Prednisone which had little to no impact and MRI confirmed L5, S1 disc bulge. GP referred me to a neurosurgeon. While waiting to get into the neurosurgeon on September 29, the symptoms slowly subsided and were virtually gone, except for the loss of strength. Neurosurgeon orders 8 weeks (16 sessions) of physical therapy and directs met to avoid all weight bearing activity for the purpose of exercise until our follow up appointment. Allowed swimming, stationary recumbent bike, yoga (but no "crazy" poses), and seated weight lifting during this time.
[*] October through November, 2014--follow neurosurgeon and physical therapist protocol exactly as prescribed. There was not a single time that broke the "rules" because the last thing I wanted to do was risk re-injury. Sign up for a gait analysis running clinic through the PT office for December. November 25 was cleared by the neurosurgeon to return to regular activities, including running, though he lectured me about how horrible running is for low back and explained that he advises all of his patients to avoid running for exercise.
[*] December, 2014--begin reintroducing running through run/walk intervals on the indoor track per plan advised by my PT. 4th time out, symptoms return. Numbness, tingling and loss of strength were all present. Postpone gait analysis to the April, 2015 running clinic date. Cease running and revert to pool, yoga, bike and weights, while I wait for January and our PPO (had been HMO) to arrive.
[*] January, 2015--Not going to return to anti-running neurosurgeon and instead consult with sports med focused chiropractor. He is not big on adjustments and promotes paying attention to the whole kinetic chain. I detail activities I had been doing at PT and provide him with a list she gave me. He makes the comment, "Sounds like they threw everything including the kitchen sink at your core during PT and you wound up back where you started." I think, "Yes! That's exactly how I feel!" Assesses that my core and back strength were good, as a result of PT, flexibility is good (thank you, yoga!) and theorizes that my gait--specifically pronation--was the trigger of kinetic chain issues that resulted in the bulging disc injury.
[*] February, 2015--Chiropractor measures and casts me for orthotics in his office. He took video of my walking gait, but never watched me run. Prescribes a series of exercises to activate glutes, keep knees aligned, and prevent pronation. I work this program as faithfully as I had at PT. Left leg illiotibial band starts giving me problems. Chiropractor uses massage, stretching, foam rolling, Graston technique, and kinesio tape to address it.
[*] March, 2015--Orthotics arrive! I break them in as prescribed, slowly working up from 3 hours per day until I can tolerate them well and actually prefer the way it feels to wear them rather than not wear them. I use them in my stability running shoes (Brooks Adrenaline series) that I had been wearing pre-injury, but a brand new pair of the same shoe. After 2 weeks, I begin run/walk intervals. IT band is still pretty cranky.
[*] April, 2015--Begin outdoor running. 3 miles/3X per week at first and have worked up to a total of 13 miles per week maximum. BOTH IT bands are cranky and require a lot of attention with stretching, icing, foam rolling, etc., but I'll take it because there are no disc problems and I'm running! Still frustrating because I've never had IT issues before.
[*] April 25, attend gait analysis running clinic. It was a pretty comprehensive experience including assessments of my injury history, training plan, flexibility, strength and functional tests, foot biomechanics, and video tape of me running from the front and side for the gait analysis. Per their assessment, I have relatively high arches, do not pronate and that if the bulging disc was caused by running, it is not from a foot, ankle, or knee issue. One PT said, "You don't have a neutral foot, but it's pretty darn close!" Perhaps something higher up the chain, maybe hips, is the culprit, so 5 (!) different PT's watch me run on the treadmill. They note that I have a slight over rotation of my trunk, the I lean forward a bit which pushes the bottom out and causes hip flexor issues, I heel strike, my right hip drops some as I stride on the left, my steps cross the midline of my body, and my cadence (164) is a bit slow. They video me again running at a 180 cadence which corrects the lean, promotes a mid-foot strike and some of the hip drop is corrected. They advise that the orthotics, coupled with a stability shoe, are way too much for me and likely the reason my IT Bands are so irritated. Suggest I ditch the orthotics and stay in a stability shoe or keep the orthotics but use in a neutral shoe. They also assess glute medius and hip flexor weakness, prescribing exercises to address those deficits as well as some core strengtheners to address the trunk rotation.
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So, given that comprehensive history, with the advice of a lot of different medical professionals leaves me thoroughly confused. I just want to be able to run again!!! Where do I go from here?

I appreciate your thoughts, references, and sharing of experience.