5 year old couldn’t calm down

[Gooddaysthenbaddays]

Can anyone please help

Just spend almost 3 hours trying to calm our Dd down, not from upset/temper tantrum, just trying to basically help her to stop/calm herself. She was laughing uncontrollably at times, repeating words, shouting out then laughing, making noises etc. It was awful, Dh was getting cross at one point as she just wouldn’t stop, she then started crying and saying she couldn’t help it, we both held her really close in bed and just tried to sooth her, U.K. stop the movements, shouting out etc. She fell asleep about 20 minutes ago, very late before. She has sometimes gobd into these zones (don’t know what else to call it) before and it comes and goes and is very hard to control, then will go for months being completely fine. It felt almost like Tourette’s, something she couldn’t control, but it’s not a regular
thing, just happens ever so often. She’s often a hyper type of child always on the go and lots going on in her head.
Just lay here feeling exhausted and worried. She says she doesn’t want to go to school, we’ve had some issues that I’m going through with with the teacher, could it be anxiety? I just don’t know 😢I honestly felt like she needed to be given something, she just could not calm down
Please can anyone help at all?

*To stop, not U.K. 🤷🏻‍♀️
*Very late for her
*Gone into these zones

Sorry for all the typos

At school the teacher said she was tired today and then when we went on a short dog walk after school, we went back as she was tired. Can it be just this though? Seems crazy

Sounds tough OP. Do you think it could maybe be autism/ADHD? Hope you don’t mind me saying that.

My 3yo is non-verbal and possibly has autism and sometimes she makes noises, repeats vocalisations, laughs randomly. She is also always on the go. Sometimes awake for a few hours in the night and bouncing around. But this happens most days, not just every so often.

The not wanting to go to school makes me
think there is something deeper going on.

Hard to say but as an outsider it sounds like an autistic meltdown. How is she socially?

Can you pinpoint something that started it all? Something that made her laugh and loose control? Uncontrollable giggles etc does happen with children. Can take them a while to stop..
If there was no obvious trigger my only other suggestion is possible seizure activity. Look up emotional focal awareness seizures. I’m not sure they really fit though as they don’t tend to last very long.
Has it ever happened before?

I can’t really offer any advice other than to say that I remember a thread on here some months ago and that rang a bell. I think that the little boy concerned had similar episodes of uncontrollable laughing and that it was investigated by the doctor. It might be possible to search for it. I’ll have a look and see if I can find it.

Could it be this

https://www.epilepsy.com/what-is-epilepsy/seizure-types/gelastic-and-dacrystic-seizures

@Heelenahandbasket What would/could cause that?
She’s fantastic socially, very outgoing, lots of fun, always wants to play, never stops.

It could be a kind of autistic meltdown for sure. There’s some crossover between autism and tics - my son always has some sort of verbal stim/tic going on and it’s often hard to tell the difference. You mention hyperactivity too, so possibly ADHD. These things are all linked, they aren’t necessarily separate disorders.

What are the triggers for these episodes? I’m guessing some sort of extreme overwhelm?

Sounds like a kid who got hyper.

@Smartiepants79 There was nothing particular that started making her laugh, just her saying silly words..poo etc repeatedly, then laughing and just too much. Then saying she was hungry, wanting to get out of bed, just not settling, but it’s the shouting out and noises

@ItsmeImtheproblem200 To this extent though? It was really quite bad

If it was a one off, could she be unwell?

@Jellycats4life I’m not sure, nothing specific had happened, she does get very hyper at times. It was getting near bedtime and she wanted to go outside and play and was asking me to play and we said we’ve just sat down after dinner, now is relaxing time before bath etc. Nothing in particular happened, she had it the other day when I was trying to get her dressed for school, it’s like some sort of extreme silliness and very frustrating, it didn’t last as long as tonight though

When my DS is super tired at bedtime, he gets a bit like this too. Many not for the length of time you mention but he can have up to an hour or so of hysterical laughter, poo jokes, jumping off the furniture etc and he can't seem to stop it. Eventually, it burns itself out. I don't suspect that he's ND at this stage, more that he's still trying to work out what different feelings mean. So feeling tired should mean that he wants to go to bed. But actually it presents itself in hyperactivity.

@Mariposista It has happened before and a few times within the last week, but this was much more and lasted longer. She had complained of being tired

@mynameiscalypso Yes, she’s been like that before, but the way she couldn’t stop shouting out words etc..is that normal/typical?

My friend's son has laughing seizures when he laughs uncontrollably and says random words, but his eyes roll back, so it's obvious that he's not with it.

Sorry you're having this worry, OP.

@Ponche I have wondered this before and it happened more last year or I thought I saw more signs of it as it were, but then to go large periods of time with not many symptoms (not sure is the right word) would that be typical?

Go to the GP. Get medical advice. Don’t let them fob you off.

DD has had a few episodes like this over the years when she is very tired, often it's when she's coming down with something and is more tired than usual.

The only thing that really helps is to not engage with any of the behaviour. So speak calmly and quietly, no joining in with the silliness or giggling, try to encourage her to sit calmly. When she was very little I'd quietly sing a nursery rhyme, as she got a little older I'd count quietly and try to get her to join in, the act of a steady calm repetitive or simple rhyme or count would calm her.

Then once she had calmed it would be a bath or reading a book or colouring, something that made her comfortable and allowed us to do the activity together but without getting excited again.

Couldn’t she just be wound up from a long and demanding day? I would be inclined to try not to worry about this if you can. She’s a child, they can get hysterical and tend to grow out of it as they learn to self regulate

Sounds like she didn't want to go to bed so played up so she didn't have to go to bed.

DS will shout out words and make random sounds (or sing) very loudly but I think it's a conscious thing with him because he finds it funny (especially when we don't). I sort of liken it to hysterical laughter when you get the giggles and just can't stop. But as other posters have pointed out, there are probably enough signs with your DD that it might be worth seeking medical advice.

I would try leaving her in her room on her own to calm down. Being the focus of your anxious attention and reassurance may not help her calm down, whereas having no audience at all might sober her up.