I have had acne for years and have tried many things. I have never used Proactive, but I have finally come up with my own regimen so that the only time I break out is around the time I get my period, but then it's gone within a couple days. I have very oily skin, so everything I use is oil-fighting. Bear in mind this is strictly oil-fighting, not shine control. There is a bar soap called PanOxyl that you can get at just about any drug store, even Wal-Mart carries it. I wash twice a day with that, follwed by Clean-and-Clean's oil fighting astringent. Then I use an oil-fighting moisturizer, also by clean-and-clear. It has a nice, fresh, clean smell to it, and does not feel oily like some moisturizers. At night I also use a spot treatment. I have found that Nuetrogena's spot treatment works best. I can't remeraber the exact name of it, but it is a clear gel that claims it reduces redness in 16 hours or something. A little bit goes a long way, and it actually works quite well. I also use Nuetrogena's ance scar fading mask. Or if I have broken out real bad I will use it twice a week. This works really well! Especially to get rid of scaring. You can see a result as soon as you rinse it off!
If you do get an appointment with a dermatologist, ask about Differin. My friend uses it, and I used it for a couple of days when we went on a trip and I forgot my spot treatment and I broke out. It worked really well.
Hope this helps