High blood pressure treatment with Ramipril

Dear Ask The Doctor: I have recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure. It has averaged over the past 2 months at 155 over 105, but it does fluctuate and it was once as high as 225 over 155 and sometimes as low as 135 over 87 (but not lower). This all started when I felt sever pain in the righ lung which was though to be either PE, collapsed lung or even a stoke! But x-rays and some blood tests dismissed all of the above and I was discharged from hospital. The pain was though to be muscular and helped to cover the hypertension issue that I have had possibly for a while. I am 36 years old male. I live a reasonably healthy life. Don't smoke, cholesterol level after some recent tests was 4.5, blood sugar levels were normal, but slightly over weight with a body mass index of 28.1. Since I was diagnosed, the doctor initially put me on 2.5 ramipril which was upped to 5mg and last week it was upped again to 10mg. I have been suffering with dizziness, feeling of vertigo, blurry vision and feel generally sick most of the day. The headache feels like some one had hit me on the head with a baseball bat and the location of the pain moves from right to left to top of the head. I reported this to the doctor, who has lowered my dose to 5mg again. My questions: 1. Are these common side effects of rampril? 2. Should I ask the doctor to change the medicine to another type (I did ask her if ABR's would be more effective but she dismissed them telling me that ACE Inhibitors are better primary treatment) 3. Could the headaches and dizziness by a primary cause of concern and the high blood pressure a secondary sign? i.e could have a brain tumor or something like that? I do doubt it as up to the point of diagnosis with high BP and starting to take Rampril, the BP was unnoticed and the dizziness started with the tablets 4. I have had a pain in my lower abdominal area which initially I though was a hernia. The doctor inspected it and ruled out the hernia and she thinks again it is a muscle strain, but I have had it for 5 months now and it is not going, could than be secondary effect of high BP or is it completely unrelated? Many thanks

Dear Ali: Your mentioned symptoms are the common side effects of ramipril and may reduce as your body slowly adjusts to the medication. To minimize dizziness and light-headedness due to lowering of your blood pressure, get up slowly when rising from a seated or lying position. Drink adequate fluids to prevent from becoming dehydrated. If any of these effects persist or worsen, you may notify your doctor and ask for the change of the medication. The lower abdominal pain may be due to stress or muscle strain, and not be related to the hypertension or the medication unless the pain coincides with the appearance of the disease or the drug along with some other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, bleeding etc.