what causes symptoms?

[RCinNY]

A general question on test results and symptoms...

What causes people to have thyroid-related symptoms?  

(a) only TSH needs to be out of balance for symptoms to arise
(b) TSH is off AND there's an over- or under-supply of hormones made by the thyroid
(c) some other reason or combinations of reasons not listed above
(d) we don't know exactly

Thanks.

[Newbee2000]

Your could have symptoms if yout tsh, t3 or t4 are out of range. You could also have symptoms if you have hashimoto's (autoimmune disorder) producing thyroid antibodies. You could have graves disease, or nodules. There are several reasons for thyroid to cause problems or symptoms, some being more complex than this simple answer. Tsh too high is underactive (hypo). tsh too low is overactive (hyper). If you had a reading/lab that was out of normal rang, ask your MD to explain it.

[RCinNY]

It's more of an academic question.  So you think it could be (a) (b) OR (c)?  I'm particularly interested in whether (a) is possible - i.e., symptoms caused by TSH being out of range but everything else is in range.