Epiduo. Cure or just a nightmare?

Hi guys. My name is Lucy, I'm 22 years old and currently attend university for environmental engineering and mathematics. My battle against acne began when I was 14. I have always had oily skin and blackheads. When I started high school, I also started to get some cystic acne. It never too bad. Mainly three to four spots when I was about to get my period. Nevertheless, it bothered me so my mom took me to the dermatologist and I was put on minocycline (which I only used for three months) and differin. The combination worked great for my skin and I continued to use until I was 18. After I got out of high school I thought that I was done with the "acne phase" and decided to stop applying any topical medication on my skin. And I looked great for about a year. Then my skin started to slowly break out. I tried Proactive and it did absolutely nothing to my skin but I kept trying for a few months. On November of 2010, I went through a break up and got into a horrible depression. Not only I was heartbroken, I was also breaking out like crazy. The way my skin looked was only making me more stressed and therefore, break out more. I finally went to the dermatologist sometime in January of 2011. She prescribed me minocycline wipes, a 10% benzoyl peroxide foam, and duac gel. It took about a month for my skin to start getting better, but once it did, it looked great again. I used the wipes for a couple of months then stopped because they burned my face when I applied them. Then, I ran out of duac and because I don't have insurance I didn't feel like paying a fortune for it so I stayed only with the BP. I can't tell you why ( because I don't remember) but I eventually also stopped using the BP and my face stayed pretty clear for a while. However, last summer, I started to break out again. It was moderate but it really bothered me. And for the third time I went to the dermatologist to get a solution. She prescribed me epiduo. And let me tell you, my first experience with epiduo was what I think it should be called hell. Some nights I would put on the cream and cry because of how much it burned my face. But I stuck with it and after two months and a bad initial break out, my face was clear again. I was also on birth control at that time. Well, June of this year I decided to stop birth control and later in July I ran out of epiduo and money to purchase a new one (almost 300 dollars is a lot for a college student). And one more time my face broke out. So I decided to get back on epiduo and on the birth control. Now, exactly two weeks into using epiduo, my face looks like I have chemical burns. Everytime I look in the mirror I want to cry. I don't want to leave the house anymore or do anything.The only people I talk to are my boyfriend and my sister. I want to say that it's the initial purge because my face did not look nearly as bad two weeks ago. I am breaking out into painful cysts everywhere. Even on my forehead that never breaks out. I know I should stick with the routine and wait to see results but I feel very discouraged. I can't wear make up because it doesn't cover anything and it looks flaky because of the peeling. My skin gets worse everyday and I think I might be getting depressed again. I'll keep updating this blog for my own sanity. Here are some pictures of how my face looks right now: