Vicodin addiction symptoms are different in some ways from classic addictions to street drugs. One reason is because, as a legally manufactured product in commerce, the supply chain flows through the medical community. Some who become addicted have been on the medication for legitimate medical reasons.
Doctors, who monitor pain medication prescriptions, will usually see the first Vicodin addiction symptoms as an unjustified increase in use. In fact, this is one pathway to a full narcotic addiction -- an escalation in the amounts taken. Medical personnel who find patients with excuse after excuse for increasing quantities or getting early refills may suspect an emerging addiction.
Vicodin addiction symptoms parallel other narcotic addictions, although, because the drug is only taken orally, the extreme highs and lows that come with smoked or injected drugs are missing. The addiction is just as powerful though. Addicts will have the same cravings and anxieties when the supply of the drug is threatened.
From the addicts point of view, Vicodin addiction symptoms appear as an inability to feel normal when the drug isn't available. This is a different issue than pain management -- typically, pain (even chronic pain) ebbs and flows with good days and bad days. For someone who is addicted, Vicodin addiction symptoms of withdrawal emerge whenever they significantly reduce their intake of the drug. There is a mismatch between use and pain.
One important caveat. Someone whose condition mandates an increase in dose isn't considered addicted. This is true even if they have become physically tolerant to the drug. An old rule of thumb for narcotic addiction is, "Pain prevents addiction." In other words, it does matter what the motivation for taking the drug is. Someone who is truly addicted takes Vicodin or other narcotic for reasons other than relief of physical pain. They take it to combat other problems in their lives.
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