Question from Gulfport, Mississippi, USA:

For the last four years, I get weak spells. I wake up at night with cold sweats, hungry, shaky, very weak, and food relieves it. I fight a weight problem so I’m on a 1400 calorie diet, and I exercise three to five times per week. Both parents had type 2 diabetes, but my fasting blood sugars are normal.

My doctor says nothing is wrong, but now the weak spells happen during the day also. I have to eat every hour and have to pull to the side of the road while driving. A second doctor did a fasting blood sugar which was normal, and a third doctor did a C–peptide level which was 5.2 with a random blood sugar of 97 mg/dl [mmol/L]. This doctor says I have insulin resistance syndrome due to a history of polycystic ovaries. He says I can only continue my diet and exercise.

However, now I am very weak. I can only walk on treadmill for 20 minutes before the severe weak spells. I feel like hell, and it’s absolutely almost impossible to make 1400 calories last over day. I have continuous weakness with weight gain. Is there any other treatment? I will die soon in an accident if I don’t stop the weak spells, and I’m only 44 years old.