About how long does it take for someone to become addicted to hydrocodone? I've taken it for 5 months straight now because of cronic pain.

Unfortunately many people get addicted to pain killers due to pain management or some sort of surgery or accident. I would say that if you are taking an opiate every day for 5 months straight then your body will start to get dependent. Has your tolerance gone up as well?

Tolerance is the measurement of whether or not you have become addicted to hydrocodone or any substance. Some people can take pain killers for a long time and they don'get addicted, others can become addicted reasonably fast.

If you skip a dose or day do you get sick? I would guess you have to be addicted at 5 months so I am confused why you are asking. You have to be if you use on a regular basis for that long.

if you still have pain though don't worry about it. it's what pain medicine is for. Once your pain is manageable or under control - ween off the norco or vicodin. Or if you have a love of opiates then look into a long-term treatment like Ibogaine.

Being physically dependent on a pain medication isn't the same thing as being addicted. I would think that after 5 months of taking hydrocodone every day you probably are dependent on it, and the measure of that will be your withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it. But that doesn't mean you're addicted to them. While dependence is part of addiction, the real test is whether you feel like you must keep taking the hydrocodone despite negative consequences. If you're taking it as prescribed and it's serving a real medical purpose--treating your chronic pain--without negatively impacting your life, I doubt you're addicted. If you start using the drug compulsively and it begins making you function less well instead of helping you function better, that's a sign of addiction. Addiction has less to do with the length of time you use a drug and more to do with how you use it.