No reason to stop the antibiotics if you are good on them. I took them continuously for 25 years, stopped a few years ago after Remicade had been working successfully for a few years, and then things gradually worsened and I developed a stricture at the J Pouch inlet. I also have inflammation in the neoterminal ileum. So I went back on cipro and flagyl a week ago. The key to staying on antibiotics long term, as Scott said, is to rotate them periodically (every 2 or 3 weeks) and have at least 4 in your rotation.
Antibiotics make a big difference in decreasing frequency and increasing continence, from my own experience. You know they are working when you start going to the bathroom a whole lot less, and stop having to rush to get there.