Jacob FuchsDirector of Pharmacy at CSC, St. Luke's Health System · Director of Pharmacy

Pharmacist's Journey: 184 Days Sober & Rebuilding Life #shorts

22 Sept 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:21

In this YouTube Shorts video, Dr. Jacob Fuchs—a pharmacist, recovering addict, and father—reflects on his 184‑day sobriety milestone. He explains the paradox of knowing the pharmacology of addiction yet still being unable to stop using drugs, emphasizing that formal education does not immunize one against dependence. Fuchs outlines the personal work of rebuilding relationships, health, identity, and self‑trust after quitting. He announces the purpose of his channel, "The Pharma Problem," which will examine the pharmaceutical world from both clinician and patient perspectives. Planned content includes analysis of TikTok‑driven drug trends, clarification of side‑effects, investigation of medication pricing and profit motives, scientific explanations of how addiction rewires the brain, and candid accounts of recovery when motivational rhetoric fades. He positions himself as a truth‑seeker rather than an advocate for or against drugs, aiming to reveal evidence‑based realities and systemic failures.

Chapters

I'm a pharmacist, an addict, a father, and 184 days sober. I spent my entire career telling people how drugs work. Meanwhile, I couldn't figure out how to stop taking them. I knew the receptors, I knew the risks, I knew exactly what addiction was doing to my brain, and I still watched myself burn down parts of my life I loved. That is the part nobody teaches you in pharmacy school. Knowing how addiction works does not make you immune to it. 184 days ago, I finally stopped. But getting sober did not magically give me my old life back. Now I have to rebuild it. My relationships, my health, my identity, my ability to trust myself again. And while I do that, I'm gonna show you the pharmaceutical world from both sides. The drugs TikTok is injecting, the side effects nobody explains correctly. Why medications cost what they cost. How addiction actually changes the brain. What recovery looks like when the motivational quote wears off. And occasionally the spectacularly bad decisions that taught me all of this the hard way. I'm not here to tell you drugs are good. I'm not here to tell you drugs are bad. I'm here to tell you the truth about what they do, why we use them, who profits, what the evidence actually says, and what happens when the system gets it wrong. I'm 184 days sober. I do not know exactly what my life looks like on the other side of all this yet, but I'm going to show you. I'm Dr. Jacob Fuchs, and this is The Pharma Problem.