When to Trust Your Body: Navigating Medical Gaslighting

When you were taught to ignore your hyper awareness of your bodily sensations, how do you know when something is bad enough to go to the ER? I’m having symptoms akin to serotonin syndrome—excessive sweating, nausea, headaches, irritability, fast heartbeat, chest pain—but I’ve been having these symptoms on and off for a while now. It’s definitely gotten worse since re-starting my Pristiq at 50mg after not having it for three days. But last time I went to an ER with similar symptoms, they brushed me off, so now I’m not sure what to do. I’ve also been told not to worry about these symptoms from doctors who are prescribing my meds, and it feels bad not to trust them, but my body is in a constant state of agitation and I don’t know how to feel better. It just feels like a constant cycle of: speak up, get dismissed, learn to ignore those symptoms, then they become too overwhelming, and the cycle repeats. Add to that, my blood work usually comes back normal, or they dismiss any flags that come up for some reason (usually no clear answer on why). What would have to be happening to me for it to be considered serious enough? Because right now I’m suffering but it doesn’t seem to be a concern to anyone else.