Informed consent could have saved me a year of withdrawal symptoms!

I was in a very bad place and could barely function. My doctor offered me medication which I gratefully agreed to. I walked out with a prescription and didn’t know anything about it until I opened the box and found I would be taking 50mg sertraline per day. I was immediately floored by brutal side effects including unbearable anxiety, fatigue, vision problems, brutal headaches and head pressure. Rushes of heat and panic through my head and many more. I persevered for 14 weeks as the forums advised to push through. At this point I realise I couldn’t do this anymore. I tried an accelerated taper as I’d not been on it for long but the withdrawal was intense. I am now on a hyperbolic taper and just changing over to a liquid form has ramped up withdrawal effects. I took this for 14 weeks and it’ll take me around a year to taper. I’m still struggling with very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms .