Blocked by Microsoft Authenticator in a loop

When I tried to change the security settings in my Microsoft account, after choosing to approve by Microsoft Authenticator, I got a notification in the authenticator. When I open the authenticator on my phone and try to approve it, I got an Error message saying there is an error and I may need to re-add the account. So I removed the account. However, the only way to add my account is to get into the security settings to get a QR code, which requires the Authenticator's approval. If I select I cannot use my authenticator, it offers only 2 options: 1 use the authenticator, 2. get the 6-digit code from the authenticator, since the authenticator on my phone is no longer there, I cannot do either. Searching in the community suggests I contact the Admin of my organization. We tried the following steps with an admin account:

1. Sign in to the cloud service portal as an admin.
2. Go to https://account.activedirectory.windowsazure.com/usermanagement/multifactorverification.aspx. However, step 2 gives me an error message about the admin ID is not being recognized (but it is indeed our Azure admin account). I managed to reset the authentication methods with the admin account, not the link, but in azure portal, under some active directory service, and added my phone and email as authentication methods in Azure portal. However, after over 10 hours, I still cannot find the option to use my phone or email to get in. This is blocking the operation of my organization. Please kindly help. Thanks. Ray