I've been working on a story for a few years now and then one of my favorite authors put out a series whose main character was awfully similar to mine. Has anyone else gone through this?

(Originally posted over in r/fantasywriters, it was suggested by mod that I post it here instead)

Let me state up front that I'm not saying "She stole my idea!" but rather commenting on how odd it was to be all excited for a new spin-off series only to find the main character has a TON of similarities to my own. I'm sure this happens but it's kind of thrown me for a loop because I'm not sure where I should take things. Has anyone here experienced this?

If yes, did you:

1. Completely change the character/situation into something different?

2. Just shrug off the coincidence and continue things the way they were?

I apologize in advance if this isn't appropriate for this sub.