R3cognizer

If it's really bad, I can also recommend asking your doctor about a prescription for a beta blocker like Propranalol. You'll still feel nervous, so you'll still need to put Diana's advice to good use, but it blocks the adrenaline reaction that leads to shaking hands and ragged breathing. This makes it easier to physically get through an event that triggers anxiety without experiencing nearly as much of the physical effects of having a panic attack while you're on stage. As a competitive quartet singer in a singing organization who is prone to stage fright, I find it extremely useful during convention quartet contests.

Medication is a tool, nothing less and nothing more. If you need medication to be a functional human being, then you need it, and if you don't like how it makes you feel, don't use it. I don't think it's fair to call it "cheating". But that said, I would agree that too many people seem to treat certain medications as a miracle cure that allows them to get away with not doing any work themselves, and this should be discouraged.