Locked out of Steemit?

Hey Steemians! I need some help!

I have three accounts on Steemit to represent my three "brands". Each represents a specific topic area, as I assume some people might be interested in one but not want their feed cluttered with the others.

It seems Steemit has created account restrictions to address bots and spammers creating multiple accounts, which is perfectly fine with me -- I doubt it was intended meant to stop genuine users from making accounts to separate subjects.

Anyway, I'm not unable to log in -- is it possible I was locked out of my account during these changes?

I have an account, which, as much as I can recall had the username @1240podcast. This account starts with a number, which is now not allowed. The login screen and the sign up screen both validate this.

I checked my browser history and I found the URL https://steemit.com/enter_email?account=1240podcast from the day I registered the account.

Doesn't that mean my username was @1240podcast? It seems now I just can't log in because of the validation on the login page. I also can't re-register, as I get an "email already used" error. I'm also required to have a unique phone number for each.

Was this restriction always enforced, or is it new? I'm curious if I'm just remembering wrong or if others have experienced this?

I'd appreciate it if those who have the power can get this question in front of the devs. I'm not sure how to officially submit a request for assistance when my account wasn't hacked.

PS: IMO, this would all be better solved by adding a "Stream" or "Channel" feature. You'd have one identity, but multiple blogs that people could follow based on their interest. There might be a technical reason why this feature isn't included, but I can't think of a logical one!