Yes, like in my case Countrybumpkin
I had let my symptoms develop, so when I finally went to the doctor they were quite severe and had been longstanding, which was why they started me on a low dose and worked up. As you say, the condition creeps up on you slowly and you don't recognise it yourself easily as a problem- one of the points when severely hypothyroid is that everything in the body slows down, including the brain. Because it creeps on you slowly too, even your nearest and dearest often miss seeing what is happening to you.
I was cold, putting on weight, had oedema that I could actually see and manipulate in my arm, a vacant expression, difficulty doing simple arithmetic which I was normally very good with and also had problems making appointments on the phone. I couldn't think straight or get proper sentences out and was oh so slow and so very tired..... I was falling asleep all over the place too and felt as if I were walking through sludge. I found it hard getting out of bed in the morning too and had to rest after walking the children to school. The crunch came when I woke up one night and felt so ill, felt that something was seriously wrong with me but I knew not where.... and took myself off to the surgery, dozing off on the bus on the way (I didn't feel safe driving). I didn't have any eyebrow or hair loss/receding problems though, other than my hair going quite wiry and its own way.
I remember my app with the doctor when she told me the TSH result with a trainee GP in the room and it was very very high - seemed to impress the trainee lol. But, as I have already said, I have been able to manage the condition very well with the support of my GP.
One benefit though was free prescriptions, so there was a silver lining after all
PS Re menopause - the hypothyroidism presented at around the same time or very shortly afterwards. My last period was in the May when I was 39 and by 9 months later when I was 40, I was then having what I now know were symptoms of hypothyroidism (after having had a brief spell of hyperthyroidism) and was diagnosed just before I was 41 and had moved areas and had a new doctor. Ironically, the reason I had avoided doctors was because they were wanting to put me on HRT because of the early menopause and I didn't want to go on it - so I stayed away!