In my experience, both times that an antibiotic worked to clear up my acne, I broke out again immediately after stopping the medication.
I finally got in to see a derm hoping I would get accutane but he gave me augmentin instead :nono: . He said it would be far more effective than any other antibiotics I have tried because it is a different type. He also said that since the bacteria do not 'know' this medicine yet it may kill it all and it may not come back after stopping.
I am having trouble believing this. From what I have seen, the antibiotics are only temporary. My insurance coverage will end in January when i turn 23 :nono: and I'm running out of time to begin a course of accutane.
Basically my question is... has anyone had long-term clearing after stopping an antibiotic or does my doctor not know what the **** he is talking about?

I have a follow-up appointment in one month to check progress of the new antibiotic. I called my current derm and expressed my concerns and he said at my next appointment if I am not satisfied with the way my skin looks then he will give me the accutane.
I have to admit that I am really surprised at how well this stuff is working. Other topical antibiotics morning and night plus Differin at night along with the oral meds did nothing. I started taking 1000mg augmentin twice a day and using Benzaclin only at night. My face looks TONS better and i just switched 4 days ago! No more big cysts. Very few whiteheads and when I do have them they're not as deep and hard and I can just sort of scrape them off with a tissue. I've only had one new spot as opposed to the usual 2-3 per morning and I am hopeful that the remaining ones will continue to fade and no more will pop up...
I am still worried about what will happen when I stop this stuff as I will not be able to be on it for much longer as I will not have prescription coverage in 6 more months and I am not looking forward to shelling out 1000+ for a full course of accutane online.
I guess I'll just try not to think about tomorrow and enjoy the current results.