Hi there, am a pharmacy student in training and I myself had serious acne issues after I came out of PLKN till the point that my parents wouldn't stop nagging me about how ugly I looked.

I learned abit about acne (we only covered topical drugs) in my first year too so maybe I can offer you some advice, do note that I'm not a professional yet though, just qualifying to be one.

I tried using antibiotics before under the directions of a famous skin doctor at SS15 (Forgot his name), but it didn't really help and taking two antibiotic pills 2 times a day for 6 months was hard to comply with especially knowing the fact that you can't anyhow stop antibiotics.

Then my friend recommended another doctor to me at Damansara Uptown (DR Koh I think) and he prescribed different types of creams and Roaccutane to me. I used roaccutane for about 3 months and didn't see any improvements, but he assured me that it would take awhile, and after 6 months there was extremely visible positive changes on my end, with some minor red spots left, but definitely not as severe as it used to be. I continued treatment for awhile longer until I had no more bumps on my face and all is well now (I still do ocassionaly get a few pimples here and there after stopping treatment for about 6 months though, but not too severe)

AFAIK, I had dry lips and had to use lip balm, and it's an extremely common side effect of the drug, but the result was that my skin was noticeably less oily. And acne is caused by your oil glands being blocked (then bacteria can infect it when its clogged), so I'm assuming that it worked in that way.

thus, I'd recommend listening to your doctors advice and continue taking Roaccutane after the 6-12 months regime is over and see what the results are like- Just follow the dose your doctor gives you. Remember, everyone has different bodies and hence why 6 months of treatment for you might not necessarily give you the results that someone else got, so give it some time. Talk to your doctor about your concerns and I'm sure he'll tell you why he thinks roaccutane is the best treatment for your option.

But just to give you some sense of assurance, many of my friends who had acne problems also resolved it with roaccutane when they were in their 20s. and it was visibly useful for them.

As for fried food etc. One of my doctors told me that there was insufficient evidence to show that eating friend stuff lead to acne, but you can always choose to be careful by watching your diet- eating a balanced meal won't hurt!

You might want to get your mom to talk to your doctor so that he can clarify her misunderstandings of western medicine though- as a pharmacist-to-be who comes from a very asian family background, I always get nagged by my relatives about how western medicine is "not safe" and "dangerous", but they usually have no evidence to back up their claims. The reason why I trust western medicine > chinese tradition is not because I don't respect my elders, but it's simply because western medicine is based on evidence.

And don't worry about your self esteem! I can totally relate to how you're feeling because at one point I was so desperate to get rid of the acne that I took a picture of myself everyday to see if there were any improvements. I recall being really depressed because of my acne esp when I was trying to chase a girl (HAHA). What helped me get through that period of low self esteem was to talk to friends who actually accepted you for who you are and not how you look like. Do try to remain positive too since being stressed and sad won't help your condition and might even make it worst!