Ladder Bridges

Bridging you back to life

Dear Friends,

At Ladder Bridges, my mission is to provide you with comprehensive information that helped me fully overcome chronic depersonalization, derealization, anxiety, agoraphobia, social phobia, electrosensitivity, and chemical sensitivity all stemming from a manifestation of late stage Neurological Lyme disease.

Lyme disease is a debilitating bacteria that comes from ticks carrying the disease. It has become a growing epidemic throughout the world and is grossly under diagnosed (or in my case, misdiagnosed). Due to the inability of medical experts to accurately diagnose Lyme disease, many people suffer for years without understanding what is wrong with them.

In my case, I spent years going to psychologists and psychiatrists trying to understand the cause of my anxiety, depersonalization and derealization. After being dismissed by these doctors, I found myself flat broke huddled in a corner of my apartment trembling in fear with medical bills staked high, creditors calling me off the hook, and insurance companies refusing to pay for the medical services I had received. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw I was beaten down to a tiny fraction of the person I once was. I was depleted. Moreso, I felt dead physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I had been a high functioning attorney, and now my cognitive skills were so damaged that I couldn’t add and subtract numbers anymore or even read! How was I going to pay back the loans?

Abandoned by doctors after following a 30-day protocol of antibiotics, coined incurable by psychiatrists lacking knowledge of Lyme disease as the “great imitator” of anxiety and depersonalization, unable to find a good doctor as there are very few practicing LLMD’s (Lyme Literate Medical Doctors), and denied by insurance companies to pay for any of my treatments, I was forced to take my health into my own hands.

I promised myself that once I got out of the situation I was in, I would help other people. And that’s exactly what I am doing. I currently have no symptoms, and am honored to share my story, my experience, and the valuable information that I discovered on a daily basis in my recovery.

I have created this website to help you on all levels – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually — and give you hope when it feels like hopelessness is all there is. One of the important things to remember is that although other people might think you are lazy when you are actually dying inside, it is important to keep hope. Sometimes it is so hard to get people to understand what you are going through. That is why it is so important to go to support groups and for all of us to share our stories.

I will be providing you with information, resources, my personal experiences, and links to products, books, and articles that really helped me along the way. This website is not meant to be a doctor’s opinion, but rather a place for you to come to for comfort and advice because so many people suffering from Lyme disease are left to their own devices with no place to really call home. I would love to help you by sharing my story of how exactly I got better.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and questions. You can always reach me on my contact page.

Lastly, if you have chronic anxiety, depersonalization or derealization, please, I urge you to get tested for Lyme disease by a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD). You may be saving your life!

With all my blessings towards recovery,

Heather