<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

MY QUESTIONS:  Is it possible to test for casein sensitivity or intolerance?
Have you, or someone you know, had such testing done?  If so, what were the
results?  Did your GI doc agree with the testing procedure and results?

Thanks to everyone who responded!  I hope I've got this information right...
From the 22 responses I received there appear to be 5 ways to test for
casein sensitivity/intolerance/allergy.  They are IgG and IgE testing (skin
testing), IgA testing (stool testing), Peptide testing (urine test),
Intestinal Permeability testing (urine testing), and dietary testing.  Below
(and in Part 2) is a more detailed summary of the response I received.  I
didn't find any information on the accuracy of any of the tests.  Web
addresses and comments from me are preceded with [ME].   

I'd appreciate any reputable medical web sites or scientific articles that
compare the reliability of these types of tests.  I'll share the info I get,
if any, with the list. 

Part 1 has IgG & IgE TESTING.  Part 2 of the summary has the other types of
testing.
__________________ 
IgG & IgE TESTING [SKIN TEST]: [ME] Description of IgG and IgE Reactions
(from Great Plains Laboratories):
www.greatplainslaboratory.com/foodallergy.html
[ME] Description of IgG and IgE Reactions (from York Nutritional
Laboratories:  http://yorkallergyusa.com/dfa.html
[ME] Frequently Asked Questions about Great Smokies' IgG and IgE ELISA
testing:  http://www.gsdl.com/assessments/allergy/faq/

[ME]  Great Plains Laboratories does IgG food allergy testing:
http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/test9.html
[ME]  Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratories does both IgG and IgE ELISA
testing:  http://www.gsdl.com/assessments/allergy/
[ME]  York Nutritional Laboratories provides at-home ELISA testing:
http://www.yorkallergyusa.com/pinprick.html

The way I understand it, casein is 1 of the main proteins in milk that
people have a problem/sensitivity to (whey is another).  Regular allergy
testing can tell if you have an IgE mediated response to milk.  IgG testing
can give an indication of "intolerance/sensitivity" to milk or other things
that may cause a general inflammatory response in the gut area.  I know that
many naturopaths test for intolerance to different foods, etc., but I do not
know anything about those tests, or how accurate they are.

IgG 'allergy' blood testing is not the traditional kind of food allergy
testing (which is IgE), it's the delayed response.....some docs think it's
valid, some don't.  Certainly there are a lot of false positives -but after
getting nowhere with traditional allergy testing for my obviously very
allergic/intolerant child, IgG testing gave us a lot of answers and
unfortunately, upon carefully testing all foods indicate, she was reacting
to all 25 positives.  In the last 9 mos, she has grown out of a good number
of them  - still reactive to dairy, almost all legumes (incl soy), almost
all nuts, gluten and eggs.  she's grown out of bananas,  oranges and some
others.  Many local labs will do IgG testing, otherwise there is
www.yorkallergy.com and other options.

She was recently tested for several foods in her diet with skin testing, one
of which was casein, which she reacted to. This was at an allergist's office
who specializes in food intolerances, in Bethesda, Md. His name is Michael
Kaliner, M.D.  My son has always been lactose intolerant, but can tolerate
very small amounts of it, especially when in a highly processed form. If he
gets too much of it, he gets sick.  My daughter is starting to feel better
now that she is trying to become lactose and casein free, but we feel there
are other food sensitivities as well. Dr. Kaliner put her on a very
restrictive diet for the time being, a hypoallergenic diet. She will then
add one food at a time to see if she can put it back in her diet.

I had allergy testing for milk and casein.  It came back neg but I know I
have an allergy to milk.

I was allergy tested and found out that I was allergic to milk... now I am
pretty sure it must be the proteins which is casein for one. as this test
I'm sure does not test for lactose intolerance as that is just a lact of an
enzyme in the intestines.   Might give allergy testing a try

I am not sure about testing. Perhaps RAST might be used for milk to see if a
true allergy (IgE response) exists. Probably your best choice would be to
consult an allergist for information. Most GIs don't get very involved with
this. When my grandchild was first being worked up, RAST was done to rule
out wheat allergy but I don't remember if dairy or milk was included in the
panel.

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