About three years ago a I started having occasional symptoms of atrial fibrillation. The cardiologist put me on Lanoxin and Aspirin. I continued to have events, however, where, on the outside of my chest, it felt like two mice were having a wrestling match. As is generally recommended, I was on a very low salt diet. During an extended trip, where I could not adhere to the low salt regimen, these events did not occur. Subsequently I increased my salt intake and I have had no further events as described above. My fibrillations have turned chronic, but I still get a lower pulse rate and less turbulent activities by the heart with a high salt intake. I also recall the media reporting on a paper published about two years ago which indicated that patients with a higher salt intake had fewer heart attacks. Unfortunately I did not catch the exact reference.
1.) Can the increase in sodium intake assist the digoxin, which inhibits the ATPase enzyme to increase the intracellular concentration of sodium and thereby increases the intracellular concentration of calcium?
2.) Does the apparent beneficial effect of increased sodium give any clues concerning the treatment options for my fibrillations: Tambacor did not work at all, Betapace seemed to restore sinus rythm for a week or so, Procainamide restored Sinus rythm initially, then failed, then worked for a few days on a second attempt, but then failed again.
3.) Somebody mentioned that Procaidamine has different short term and long term chemical interaction with the heart. Is this a fact and does this possibly tie in with the above observations?
Thanks for the help!