School with Anti Anxiety Medication

Nursing Students General Students

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Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted. I am serious need of some advice. My anxiety has been getting more serious with family problems, etc. I will be starting my last semester of nursing school in a few days. I am excited but nervous. Im graduating in May and that's something to rejoice about.

I've been having more and more panic attacks and this has been making me forgetful of a lot of things. I was getting worried about myself. My doctor prescribed Ativan and Effexor (37 mg). I am wondering about if anyone has been on meds and suffered through school because of it or did it help you? I am so worried I will have severe side effects or be dull and sleepy all of the time.

Can anyone share any experiences?

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

Nursing degree (ADN) was 4th degree and NEVER had any issues with test anxiety. I am a school-aholic. Nursing school was so stressful that I did have to take meds to test. I was in an ADN program and the pressure was intense. Nothing seemed to make sense and test question, and rationales were SO arbitrary (teachers tried to make up their own questions). We had a very strict 6 point grading scale (semester average was 86.4% for one class-that was a C). Insane. I would not have made it w/o meds.

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I take Citalopram. I am a very anxious person to begin with so adding nursing school to my life only intensified it. It's 4:00 a.m. right now and I'm laying in bed talking myself through a panic attack! Decided to distract myself by going on AN and saw your post. Freaky! I couldn't survive my crazy life without my meds.

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I just switched from Zoloft to celexa. I also have Ativan prn

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