title: Medication overuse headache.
abstract: The frequent use (>15 times/month) of medication for the treatment of acute migraine attacks may cause medication overuse headache. This kind of headache can be caused by the intake of a combination of analgesics, opioids, ergot alkaloids and triptans. The delay between first intake and these attacks is shortest for triptans (1-2 years), longer for ergots (3-5 years) and longest for analgesics (5-10 years). Treatment includes drug withdrawal followed by structured acute therapy and initiation of migraine prophylactic treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Essen, Germany. h.diener@uni-essen.de
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Diener
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Katsarava
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000009:adverse effects; D004876:Ergot Alkaloids / Q000009:adverse effects; D006261:Headache / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009294:Narcotics / Q000009:adverse effects; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000009:adverse effects; D018170:Sumatriptan / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D004876:Ergot Alkaloids; D009294:Narcotics; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D018170:Sumatriptan