Good morning janis. I was browsing the discussions and found this one. I am slightly biased here. I was diagnosed stage 4 IDC in 2019 "de novo" (never early stage diagnosis or treatment). Right from the get-go, those of us who are Estrogen+ are put on an AI's. You are correct in that if one AI does not work or has side-effects that are too harsh there are others you can try. Most of them do cause joint pain to some extent, but in my case that pain subsided after several months on letrozole. As an early-stager it may seem that everyone wants to just get past the cancer and get on with life, no more meds or their effects. I see gals everyday join our metastatic online group who are recurrences. I think it's worth it to give the AI's a chance if it reduces your risk of getting where I am today. Exercise absolutely helps and that may be why you feel better than some others might. BTW, I never had fatigue from my AI. If I had one wish it would be that no recurrences happen but I see it everyday with many never having any predisposition or genetic links to breast cancer at all. I wish you the best.
Peggie