Xanax and Ambien use

My 68 year old mother has been taking .5mg xanax xr every morning and ambien cr every night for many, many years. Recently during mid day, she hit several cars and appeared to be extremely drunk, although she had not ingested any alcohol. I was with her right before the accident and she was 100% fine. We brought her to the emergency room, they ran some tests, and concluded that it was probably from her medication but that she should see a neurologist. She remained "drunk" until the following morning and did not remember anything. She insists that the doses of her meds are too low to cause any sudden, bizarre reactions like that and claims that her doctors (especially her psychiatrist) agree and say that it is absolutely not the meds. So far, all tests have come back normal. I don't think she should be taking xanax and ambien because of her age and the fact that she is having some neurological issues. Now she is very angry with me because I keep telling her that she should consider getting off the meds. I want to help her through this scary and stressful time but I also am freaked out because my daughter was in the car with her when she had the accident. I really have no idea what the right thing to do is. Has anyone else experienced this type of thing? Any advice would be appreciated.

[LivingInHope]

Did they do a scan of her brain?  What about an EEG?  

Older people tend to have build-up of medication more in their system, their bodies slower about eliminating the drugs.  But her psychiatrist does not believe the medication caused the accident.  

However, has she had her kidney and liver function tested, to be sure these are working properly?  I would say if these are fine, that you are concerned for her safety and don't want her to drive until this gets sorted out, as people might get hurt or killed if another episode happens, but also then offer/suggest an alternative.  

[Dalubaba]

I am 81, male. I started with Xanax 0,25 in 1991 and reached to 2 mg. in 2010.To reduce the dosage of xanax, I started ambien 5mg. I take both medicines at night. I get about 5 hours sleep and one our nap in the noon.I am trying to reduce the dosage of both medicine.I do not drive cars since many years. I used to drive 2 wheeler and now stopped driving it since last 2 years. I do lots of holistic therapy. Since last 6 days I have started having cold shower instead of hot showers. This has made lot of difference  and it has given me a feel-good factor. One of our community member is also taking cold shower. She also reports very good results with cold showers. there are quite a number of posting from me and from her. You may visit chronic pain couch group read about hydro therapy. you may also Google Hydro therapy or cold shower therapy. I was hot shower person and still I could do cold shower in the year 82. I am sure she will find tremendous improvement in her mood and health. Group member nidk name myoungbyheart.