severe acne and scarring

[bo40]

im a 22 year old black male who never had any acne what so ever up until about 2 years ago. at first i got severe welts and/or lumps around my jaw line, under my chin, and around the lymph nodes on my neck. I ignored it and thought they would go away but they didn't and very soon after i started getting white heads all over my face, especially my cheeks. I went to the dermatologist and was prescribed differin gel, i think 100mg of tetracyclin 2x a day and some other cream. I took these for a about 4 or 5 months and saw no improvement (in fact i think the acne may have gotten worse). I stopped taking the differin and other cream because they really irritated my skin. The dermatologist soon switched me to a stronger prescription of 135 mg of monocyclin and i was on that for a little over a year and i started using cortizone which helped a little but no major difference. about a month ago i was switched to doxyclin 100mg and still use the cortizone. I still don't see a any major difference. also i get severe scars and blemishes from the acne. i use ambi exfoliating face wash to help with the scarring. honestly i think this is more than just acne because of the welts around my neck and the fact that it came so quickly and severly and i've never had a blemish on my face before that. I'm in generally good health and i really don't eat junk food or candy that much. please help with this problem because i have completely ran out of any solutions for this.

[loiloi]

Hi. Differin is unlikely to irritate your skin, the other cream prpobably contained benzoyl peroxide and the combination of the two caused the irritation. Use only one topical solution (I recommend Differin) and use a bland cleanser such as one by eucerin or La Roche-Posay. Do not use a face scrub whilst using Differin as this will irritate your skin. Differin will exfoliate your skin without scrubbing.
It is better to persevere with one type of oral antibiotic for what can be considered a fair trial, than switch to a different type before it has had time to work. Acne responds very slowly to oral antibiotics.
Hydrocortizone is good for allergic rashes but can make acne and rosacea worse. It is not indicated for long term use on the face as it will make your skin thinner.
There is no conclusive evidence that diet affects acne, so don't feel guilty about enjoying a normal diet with occasional treats.
Deal with your acne first, by taking long term antibiotics and using a topical synthetic retinoid like Differin, then deal with the scarring. I recommend Clinique's Even Better Skin Tone Corrector, which reduce the marks acne leaves behind and is suitable for all ethnicities.
Eloise x

[bo40]

do you think i should try proactive because i hear everyone talking about it?

[loiloi]

Proactive contains benzoyl peroxide which may irritate your skin. Benzoyl peroxide is the active ingredient in many other cheaper preparations. Although it is helpful for mild to moderate acne it is not as effective as a prescription gel like Differin.
If you can get a trial sample of Proactive it might be worth a try. But if your doctor feels you warrant prescription-only treatments I would take his advice and use these over expensive celebrity-endorsed products.
Eloise x