Alex is a 12 year old boy with autism who seemed to be a typically developing child until about age 4, when, his mother says, “He kind of fell off the planet.” As Alex grew older, he became more aggressive and when he turned 8 his mother, Elisa, put him on the drug Abilify. ““It saved our lives in terms of him being able to live with the family,” she says. But the drug had some potent side effects. Alex gained 45 pounds the first year he was on it. “At age 6 he was wearing a size 6 and by 9 ½ he was a size 12,” Elisa recalls. “He also became calmer, more relaxed and more sedentary and he didn’t know what to do with his new body. Since then, he’s definitely had a weight issue.”

While Alex likes fruits and vegetables, since being on the drug he has had trouble controlling his intake of carbohydrates, sometimes binging on things like french fries or packaged hot dog buns. “If he’s at a party and that stuff is available he will not stop eating it. He will take it off other people’s plates,” Elisa says.

Over time, Alex’s blood sugar rose dangerously high, to the point where he was considered pre-diabetic. With the help of an endocrinologist, Elisa was able to retool Alex’s diet to bring his blood sugar down, but the scare was enough to keep her vigilant about Alex’s eating habits, while also reducing the amount of Abilify he takes. “I can’t imagine my life with his challenges plus having to deal with insulin shots and monitoring his sugar,” she says. “It would just be a nightmare.”

Alex is now 5’3” and weighs about 135 lbs. He can run a mile with his Adapted Physical Education coach, plays soccer on weekends and he loves to swim. Still, he’s no longer the active runner and jumper he was before the medication. “It’s hard to get him to move whereas before it was hard to get him to sit still,” Elisa says. “He’s easier to live with but there’s been a cost to his health.”