Epiduo : Forte Gel

I'm 16 years old, and I've struggled with moderate acne since I was around 12 years old. I tried to put off seeing a dermatologist because I thought it would be embarrassing, so instead, I tried basically every over the counter topical medication I could find; AcneClear, Proactiv, Cetaphil, Biore, and probably at least twenty more brands. I finally worked up the courage to go see a dermatologist, and he prescribed me Epiduo Forte and some doxycycline pills. I wash my face with Cetaphil then apply the epiduo once every night before I go to sleep. I never got any of the burning sensation, to me it felt cool for the first few days, and now it doesn't give any sensation at all. I was SO excited to start using this because most of the reviews were positive and acted like it was a miracle worker. I've been using this for over a month, and I'm disappointed to say, I'm NOT HAPPY. My skin is the worst it's ever been, and I haven't seen any improvement at all. Before starting this, my skin was bad, but it was mostly centered on my cheeks. My chin and forehead were completely clear. After using epiduo, my acne has gone to moderate to severe, and there is no longer any clear area of my skin. At first I thought it must be a "purge phase" but this has been going on for about 6 weeks, so I'm losing hope. I really don't know what else to try.

In the past I've been on clindamycin and epiduo + deoxycyclin. Each was effective for about a year before my skin got bad again. Currently I'm on three different prescriptions, aczone in the morning, epiduo forte at night and erythromycin twice a day. As well as going completely dairy free.I hoped there wouldn't be a "binge" period like there was with my old epiduo but there was. I'm in my third week and I've seen zero improvement. I have cysts all along my hair line, on my chin, and on my forehead. I hope I'll see improvements soon.