Ambien and numbness

My wife who is 49 years old was prescribed Ambien to help her sleep she has Phybromyalgia so she is in a lot of pain and so sleep has been a fleeting thing. on Feb 12, 2009 she took it for the first time I work 11-7 and woke her at 8:30 am and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until she came into the living room around 1:00 pm and appeared to stumble slightly this in it's self wasn't a big deal people trip all the time. It was the fact that she caught herself on the end table grabbing it and hesitated for a few seconds then turned around and carefully shuffled backed to the kitchen holding onto the hutch for balance. I asked her if she was ok she said yes but I could hear in her voice she was scared. I went to the kitchen and asked her again then she told me that her whole left side was numb and tingled. I asked her when it started she said it was that way when she got out of bed at 8:30 am. I told her she should have said something right away but she said "I thought it would just go away". I told her get your coat I'm taking her to the hospital. After spending a night in the hospital an MRI revealed that she had suffered a very mild STROKE. The taking of Ambien the night before for the first time to me was more than a coincidence. Her attending Neurologist said that there should be no lasting effects and the numbness and tingling would go away in time. Although even after telling them about taking Ambien for the first time the night before none of them thought much about Ambien being a possible cause for STROKE. I suppose I should consider her lucky as it could have been devastating. I would not recommend anyone taking this drug even with their doctor’s supervision.

I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is a side effect of Ambien...or not...but, I've been taking Ambien CR 12.5 mg for a couple of months due to menopausal insomnia...and starting around 3 weeks ago...I have a "wandering numbness"...with a very slight "burning" feeling on my right side...especially my right arm...my right ankle feels slightly swollen and numb also. My husband, who's an M.D., said that it sounds neurological. Could this be from the Ambien????

I took Ambien (20 milligrams) flor better sleep. The side affects that I got before I was able to get to sleep were shaky from the inside out, nervousness, blurred vision, can't walk straight, and stomach ache, and numbness. Is this normal? Jenn~