You can go without moisturizer cause the skin can maintain its moisture and oils naturally. It just happens that we use moisturizer with a lot of ingredients and chemicals in it that our skin might feel overwhelmed, so when you stop using those ingredients, that's the result you're getting.
Did you ever looked up the caveman regimen? It's basically not using any skincare on your skin (not cleansing or moisturizing).
It might feel extreme in this Picky community but I've heard sucess stories with this method, particularly from people with mild to severe acne.
This is just like the principle that skincare isn't an one size fits all. Not using moisturizer might go really well for you or can end up really bad.
Yes, they go through a purge phase (cause the skin was so used to skincare products) that might take up to 6 months...and if you stop using moisturizer for more than 2 weeks, this might happen to you later (too).
You can look this up on google or youtube, there's plenty of information there. Again, consider your skin type, skin conditions or concerns, it might not work for everyone!