What kind of drug would make a person extremely forgetful, like ask the same question every few minutes, not be aware of an important telphone call 15 minutes earlier etc.?
Also falling down and weakness in the legs. I know she is using alcohol with whatever drug it is. She is claiming valium only but I strongly suspect something else.
I am ready to pull my hair out over here. I am suspecting soma but I can’t find any when I searched.
Any of the benzos would be suspect.
Barbies are too old to still be routinely available.
The ‘Z drugs’ - mostly hypnotics* are possible
With the addition of alcohol, about anything - including placebo** has to be considered.
** - enough alcohol could account for the symptoms described.
Valium combined with alcohol will certainly cause those symptoms and many more up to and including death when combined in sufficient quantities. I am not sure why you are dismissing that explanation in favor of something more because that cocktail is plenty on its own. Valium is a very addictive benzodazapine that works on GABA receptors in the brain (the ones that generally slow down brain activity). Alcohol also works on GABA receptors through a different mechanism. Combine the two and it is like pulling the emergency brake on your brain and nervous system in general. Those are two drugs which should not be mixed because it causes the effects you describe and sometimes much worse. If the doses of either or both combined are high enough, it doesn’t just shut down short-term memory, it can cause basic life functions like breathing to become fatally suppressed.
Marijuana would be the obvious answer. I don’t know if this friend of yours lives in a state with medical marijuana or not, though.
Mmmm, I think that Fioricet/Fiorinol is still given for headache conditions, and doesn’t that have a barbiturate as one of the ingredients?
Barbiturates certainly exist in some forms but he is right in saying they are very rare as street or prescription drugs in the U.S. today. That is a good thing because it is even more dangerous to combine barbiturates and alcohol than benzodiazepines like Valium and alcohol. One of the big reasons they aren’t around much is that they have a synergistic effect with alcohol and it is easy to take a moderate dose of both and end up dead accidentally.
I know her Dr. recently took her off of Xanax and switched her to Valium, I have become pretty accustomed to how she acts on just those. I did find some ambien and she is likely throwing that into the mix. She doesn’t like pot and she is far too wasted to be on pot alone. This has been going on now for a couple of weeks at an extreme level. Her tolerance for drugs is also very high, that’s why I am suspecting something new. I have been around her for 20 years, a couple of years ago she went on anti depressants and there was a marked improvement, still alcoholic, addict but at a much more tolerable level until the last few weeks.
Let’s just say I have some personal experience with the exact combination and symptoms you are describing with someone close to me. It really was just alcohol and Valium combined but that was plenty to cause all kinds of nasty problems including three ambulance rides for overdoses and one long stay in Critical Care from a near death situation.
Valium is different than Xanax and more dangerous in some ways. The biggest difference is Xanax is a short-acting benzodiazepine while Valium has a much longer effect. That means that an alcoholic can use it as a supplement to their drinking to get an even stronger effect that lasts hours or even continuously if they take more every few hours. That is an extremely addictive combination and I would question any doctor that chose to give an alcoholic a prescription for any benzodiazepine but especially one like Valium. That is basically just doubling down on a new version of the same addiction and making it more dangerous at the same time.
However, once you are addicted to one or both of those, it is generally going to take a medical detox to get someone off of them safely especially if they are abusing both. Benzodiazepine withdrawal is notoriously bad and you can die from it just like my grandfather did and alcohol is the same. Unfortunately, that will be painful and slow process that requires a willing person to go through it.
I was going to suggest lorazepam (Ativan) but you beat me to it.
It sounds like this person needs a medical detox. 
The valium probably explains it then. I am accustomed to the xanax with her but not really the valium. As I look back the problem has intensified since he switched her to valium. He also lowered her dose of Anti depressants I think. I think she has been through every drug rehab program in southern California along with countless trips to er for od’s. I am just getting too old for this bullshit.
Valium and alcohol fit. Alcohol alone fits, if you drink enough of it. Ambien’s certainly not helping. Really, if she’s using alcohol with valium, whether the ambien is in use or not, you’ve got yourself a pickle of a problem. She cannot safely quit those at home; she needs hospitalization for safe medical detox.
In four years of nursing, I’ve seen a barbiturate once. Phenobarbital, prescribed to an elderly person for seizure control. It’s so rare these days, I had to look it up to be sure I was remembering the right drug class for it.
You have my sympathies. Unfortunately it isn’t a rare problem and lots of us have personal and professional experience with it as well. The best of luck to both of you whatever the next course of action needs to be.