BV questions - please help!!!

Hi everyone! I think have recurrent BV and would love to hear about your experiences.... I still am not sure what causes mine/if its always BV and how to address it. Hoping I can learn from other's experiences...

What prompts your BV? And how do you know its BV and not something else? Again I am not really sure if I get it b/c sex or my period.

How do you treat it and what works vs. doesnt work? And how much do you spend on these treatments? I somewhat worried about the cost of all the doctor visits I've had already.

Do you use the at home testing kits and are those helpful? Not sure if I should try them...