Is it allergies?

Eight years ago, when I was thirty years old I had bronchitis, then pneumonia. I quitt smoking  but since I have  had chest congestion when I lie down on my back (or side). I can pretty much make it happen just by lying down. It rattles in my chest and I have to cough to make it clear. This happens once a day usually, sometimes more. I often have the same symptom standing up. I had a chest xray one year after the pneumonia and they said it was clear. I have been to two different doctors (five years ago) and they both said it was allergies. In general it doesn't get any better or worse and I have no trouble breathing that I can tell. The doctors said it was postnasal drip and prescribed zyrtec but I have always felt it rattling in my chest and the cough coming from there. I don't have a stuffy nose at all. My fiance claims he can smell something bad coming out of my lungs. He thinks maybe adenoids (adenoids) are bad. The coughing worries him a lot so any advice would be appreciated. Is it allergies or something else?

[National Jewish Health]

There may or may not be an allergic component to your respiratory illness, but I suspect on the basis of, your description and your fiance’s statement that “he can smell something bad coming out of my lungs.”  your problem is as likely, if not more likely, to be infectious as well.  Post-nasal drip is a common cause of chronic cough but seldom results in “rattling” in one’s chest.  

Your concern and that of your fiance’ is warranted, despite the allegedly normal Chest X-ray.  What you describe is consistent with a number of chronic lung conditions including, but not limited to, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis with or without bronchiectasis, allergic fungal disease of the lungs, the so-called right middle lobe syndrome, or even the presence of a foreign body in the lung (not always evident on chest X-ray).

You should not have to live with this condition, at least not without attempts to establish a diagnosis and initiate effective therapy.

I strongly suggest that you seek consultation with a Board Certified Lung Specialist (Pulmonologist).  You should have a CT Scan of your lungs and, depending on what is found, may have to have direct examination of your airways (bronchi) via fiberoptic bronchoscopy.

Whatever you do, you should not just reconcile yourself to living with this illness.

Good luck