Migraine headache is a common, recurrent and often incapacitating disorder resulting in a substantial loss of work days and productivity, significant consumption of medicines, and considerable economic cost. We performed this study in order to determine the characteristic features of migrainous patients with regular or frequent intake of
ergotamine preparations and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (
NSAIDs) and the existence of significant differences between both groups. 186 patients were included in the study, 36.6% suffering from
migraine without aura and 63.4% from
migraine with aura. 24.7% were males and 75.3% females. Mean age of the sample was 35.6 +/- 12.9 years. With regard to medication used for immediate relief of
headache, 74.7% patients reported an intake of
analgesics and 25.3%
ergotamine preparations. In patients with
analgesic intake the mean age was significantly lower than in patients with
ergotamine for treatment of
migraine. When clinic features of these two
headache groups were examined, the duration of
migraine attacks in the
analgesic group was significantly higher (p = 0.0014) than in the
ergotamine group, and the severity of
migraine was lower (p < 0.05) than in this group. Among associated symptoms,
nausea and
vomiting were significantly less frequent (p = 0.024) in the
analgesic group than in the group of patients with
ergotamine intake.