Sometimes symptoms point to more than one possibility. It took nine months of these symptoms before we finally got a positive hookworm fecal for Spencer. Being newbie adopters, we told the vets and some greyhound people about the symptoms; but until a positive fecal occurred, they didn't know what to make of the symptoms. (I can get pretty grumpy about medical practitioners being test-dependent!) Until then, they attributed everything to either emotional distress, sensitive greyhound stomach, too many treats, or possible IBD. Once we got the diagnosis, I did my own research and learned what these symptoms meant. In particular, the coughing comes from worms that have migrated to the lungs, which are then coughed up and swallowed back to the stomach. To the uninitiated, it might seem like the "backward sneeze." And since hookworms aren't native to WA state, our vets didn't pay that much attention to them in school, so they didn't realize the significance when I reported the biting at the sides either, or the fact that he would suddenly jump for no apparent reason. That last thing was framed to me as a behavioral issue, but I later realized he jumped because he'd been bitten by the worms.
So I second the opinion that when we're dealing with vets who aren't grey savvy in parts of the world where greys aren't numerous, we have to learn stuff on our own and then go tell the vets about it. And sometimes we have to be pretty insistent. It's good that you recognize that fixation on the murmur; you can insist that they not neglect the other issues.