I've had similar experiences over the years. I started out at a startup with inexperienced founders, which resulted in micromanagement and eventually my departure after a few years. I was then hired on at a couple traditional server hosting companies that have been repositioning themselves as cloud hosts. At one of the hosting companies, I did have some measure of autonomy but politics and micromanagement were in full swing.
Most recently, I had worked at a BigCo that I left a few months ago. The environment was soul-crushing and toxic. The experiences wore me out mentally and put my health at risk, so I left.
I'm still trying to figure out the next step myself, whether it be leaving the field for something else or starting my own company. For me, it has meant a lot of introspection and lurking on sites like this.
I am glad to hear you left, especially when you have a signal that your health is at risk. Nothing is worth that, in my opinion. I even had a friend that got to suicide because of work. And there are a lot of companies that do not simply care much about the employee, especially when it comes to operational load and on-call rotation.
In order to make the best decision, one must try to understand oneself. I've been reading a book called "Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant To Live", which has been quite helpful in this regard. There are some career coaches that seem to be very effective for some people as well.
Most recently, I had worked at a BigCo that I left a few months ago. The environment was soul-crushing and toxic. The experiences wore me out mentally and put my health at risk, so I left.
I'm still trying to figure out the next step myself, whether it be leaving the field for something else or starting my own company. For me, it has meant a lot of introspection and lurking on sites like this.