Question: I am a 46-year-old male, 180 cm tall and weigh 85kg. I have a history of alcohol abuse (usually two bottles of wine per day) for about 10 years. I gave up smoking 5 years ago. On several occasions in the past 10 years doctors have done blood tests and organ scans with ultrasound. No abnormal results were found on those occasions and so I assumed that the amount of alcohol I had been consuming had not yet caused damage to the liver.
I started getting a mild oedema in feet and ankles about 8 months ago. It occurred towards the end of the day and caused some discoloration on the skin of my feet and ankles. By the morning the swelling had usually subsided. There was no associated pain.
As this continued, I visited my GP 2 months ago and he did a blood and urine test to check for kidney damage plus an ECG. The blood test showed normal kidney function (and ECG showed the heart was normal). However, he found my "liver value" to be very high. He said the "value" was 125, and I now assume that to mean the GGT value? He said that if I were a driver, my licence would be revoked. He did not say that any other blood values were abnormal. He also measured my blood pressure, which was high. My GP advised me to return for a repeat blood test in 3 months time.
I immediately stopped drinking and have not touched alcohol for the past 2 months. I did not seem to suffer from any withdrawal symptoms apart from difficulties sleeping for about a week. Faeces and urine appear normal. My oedema has remained though.
My questions: What is the likelihood of sustained liver damage? If the liver values are normal when I have the repeat blood test in 1 month's time, can I assume that the damage I caused with alcohol abuse has been largely reversed?

Hi, thank you for the reply.
If the incoming liver test functions come in normal or slightly elevated, does that still mean that there is a risk of cirrhosis? In this case should my doctor also carry out additional tests such as ultrasound?

As this is my final question, can I just summarise what I have understood:
The elevated blood values (Gamma GT or ALT) show that some liver cell damage has occurred. This may be a sign of hepatic cirrhosis. However, it is still possible that cirrhosis has not yet occurred.
My doctor has advised me to have repeat blood tests in 1 month to check the values again. I should now wait 1 month and have the tests done and also request an ultrasound scan. Both blood tests and ultrasound will establish if it is cirrhosis or not. If the blood values have returned to normal (or are slightly elevated), I should still abstain from alcohol as my liver is now more susceptible to alcohol damage.
Have I understood this correctly?
Many thanks