Expert's Reply

A.

Cardiologist

Dear Colleen,

Thanks for your question. Nutcracker syndrome refers to the x-ray appearances of the oesophagus during an episode of oesophageal spasm, shown on a barium swallow. If you have not had a barium swallow then you can’t really call the symptoms you are describing “nutcracker syndrome”. However, that is a different matter.

The heart irregularities that you describe sound like what we call premature beats. The heart gives a premature beat - which is not easy to feel because the heart has not yet had time to fill - followed by a pause, during which the heart compensates, for the prematurity of the previous beat, so that the next beat happens on time. This is a benign condition which occurs frequently even in people with normal healthy hearts and as a general rule the best treatment is to ignore it.
I presume this is why your specialist was not at all worried. Of course the fact that you have had the condition for many years, without it ever causing you harm, is itself evidence that the condition is benign.

It sounds as though many of your symptoms are related to anxiety, hence the Adco-Paroxetine that you are taking.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes, JT