Worried over tics (cough, sniffing, etc.)

[Junot]

Hello everyone,

Since I began exercising on a daily basis and dieting a month ago, I started to have some very annoying "tics". These include:
- Dry cough (most of the time I do it consciously, but sometimes I feel a slight tickling in my throat that urges me to cough);
- Sniffing;
- Forcing expiration though my mouth from the deep of my trachea.
All of these events produce sounds that are annoying to me and to those around me.
I manage to control myself when I'm outdoors, but as soon as I notice that no one is around me I can't hold myself back from forcing cough, sniffing and expiration, as outlined above. At home, I do it several times per hour. When I do it, I feel strangely relieved.
Now, why did I use inverted commas around the word tics? Because that's what my GP says it is. According to him, these tics are due to my anxiety. Well, that might be eventually true, but HOW WOULD HE KNOW IT FOR SURE when he didn't even bothered himself to examine my throat, auscultate my heart and lungs, perform a chest percussion and order a chest x-ray? He simply doesn't know, he just believes these are tics because he does know that I - supposedly - suffer from anxiety and panic disorder!
Well, I'm afraid these aren't simply tics caused by emotional stress. Actually, given the fact that I'm taking a beta-blocker, I'm afraid that it might be causing a very slight heart failure and pulmonary edema in me - hence these symptoms (mistaken for "tics"). And in case these are tics, how do I suppress them?
Do you think I should see another doctor (I don't hold my GP in high regard, actually I can't stand him :mad:), to get this straight? I'm worried over this.
I'm guessing that someday when I might be really in need of urgent medical care they will just tell me to calm down because it's all anxiety and panic and it won't kill me... Then I die. :lac:

[Junot]

Any advice?
I'm 29, all cardiac tests I've done to this day are ok, so from a medical perspective an onset of cardiac failure with pulmonary edema seems unlikely to any doctor. The thing is, I'm on a beta-blocker, consequently my heart rate and my heart contractility are both lower than they used to be due to this medicine. My reasoning is that this along with physical exercise and a strict diet might be causing a slight heart failure - I think that could be possible, thus the dry cough, the sniffing and the forced expiration. I think that a doctor, even though he knows of all my clinical history, should perform anyway a more thorough assessment of the situation: pulmonary and cardiac auscultation, chest percussion and chest x-ray. Just to clear things up. My GP just told me that this is due to anxiety and has no clinical significance. I can't believe this guy made it through medical school. What would you do? Am I overreacting and exaggerating?

[Fishmanpa]

Any advice? My GP just told me that this is due to anxiety and has no clinical significance. I can't believe this guy made it through medical school. What would you do? Am I overreacting and exaggerating?

Your GP made it through medical school because he had the know how and smarts to do so. He sees hundreds of patients with all sorts of ailments including what you fear you have. If indeed there was an indication or reason other than anxiety, it would be investigated. There apparently is not. Your lack of respect for medical professionals is obvious. Granted, there are good doctors and bad doctors out there. That being said, they take a oath to help people and can lose their practice if they're that bad but you're chasing a diagnosis that doesn't exist and ignoring what is apparent to him and to others reading the post.

I would accept what you know to be is true (extreme anxiety issues) and focus on treating them. Your fears concerning your heart based on clean medical tests and exams leave only the obvious.

Positive thoughts