If the acne that one has, is there because of bacteria attacking the oil glands on the face, then antibiotics will definitely help. as suggested in in the beginning of this thread by me, minocycline - an antibiotic of the tetracycline class, will definitely help . this antibiotic targets bacteria in the skin and is generally well tolerated by people. Ofcourse any medication can have side effects so one has to check to see whether one might have any existing conditions that might contradict its use. that is where the doctor and the pharmacist's notes come in.

Doxycycline, another antibiotic of the tetracycline class, may also help but it can lead to an upset stomach in some people. However if u take it with food, then the liklihood of it causing stomach problems is much lower. also if u take doxy, u have to take stomach supplements called probiotics to prevent the doxy from destroying the "good bacteria of the stomach". these probiotics are harmless supplements available at any grocery or health food store.

Another antibiotic, which belongs to the macrolid class of antibiotics, is azithromycin or zithromax-(the brand name). this will also help kill the bacteria
that causes pimples to erupt.

As suggested in some previous posts, antibiotics should not be taken without
medical supervision . That is well and good. however under supervision and taken in low doses, these antibiotics can really help one deal with a bout of acne in many cases. And often the antibiotics that need to be taken are at mild levels...not strong ones.

It is worth trying if someone is having trouble getting their acne under control.
Ofcourse there are many reasons biochemically which may lead to acne. But the point is, often the acne become these skin eruptions because of the bacteria feasting on the excess oil . so whatever the reason causing the oil glands to become overactive, if one can get rid of the bacteria, it will help prevent the acne from growing in several cases if not all.

Often, just having the acne is not the end of the story. even a relatively small bout of it can leave one with permanent scars in some people. thus for these people it might be worth trying low dose antibiotics to help deal with the scarring type of acne (provided they have no other health conditions which forbid the use of these meds)

Hope my input can help some one out there.

Prescription drugs are certainly not the answer, and definitely not a cure. If medication makes a body go through hell during the clearing process, imagine what it's actually doing inside your body?! It may help people, but in the long run it could cause some serious damage. Look at all of the side effects of Accutane? Are you willing to risk losing your eye sight or hair for temporary relief from acne? Or suffocating your lungs with tetracycline? My grandpa used tetracycline for a certain health problem and it only got worse over time and he was infected by all kinds of viruses from the med, and eventually died. Just an example. These drugs are extreme in my opinion.

Glad you found relief though.