Joint pain was one of my pre-HRT symptoms too. It was in my knees, hips and back. When I woke up in the morning I felt very stiff and elderly (at age 42!).... and I got 'trigger finger' in both my little fingers. (When I woke up, and first tried to move my fingers, my little fingers would jerk up and down - snapping from the down to the up position without moving smoothly in between.)
I went to my male GP who told me I was 'too young' to be peri-menopausal but he would do some bloods anyway. Hormones came back fine so he told me it couldn't be low estrogen and the rheumatoid arthritis bloods he ran were negative. He said I was hyper-mobile and must have sprained something. I said that I'd been this flexible all my life with no side effects resulting from it... Anyway, he referred me to Rheumatology.
I dutifully went to a rheumatology appointment where they ran a more specialised blood test for rheumatoid arthritis which was also negative... I told them I was about to start HRT anyway for other symptoms and if the joint pain continued I'd let them know at my next appointment. Started HRT and it all went away....
That was just ONE of my many symptoms which included vaginal dryness and soreness, constipation and gas, dry eyes, migraines, brain fog (the worst) and hot flashes. I didn't want to do anything either, I just wanted to sit by a metaphorical fire and wait to die.... at only halfway through my life??