Product: Student loan

When starting school in XXXX My mother and I were approached by my school that I did n't qualify for financial aid, so it would be in my best interest to take out a student loan and they gave us information on Sallie Mae. When we took out the loan it was only for {$8000.00} enough to cover cost of tuition that my parents physically could not. They also let us know we could choose to pay on interest before I graduated which sounded amazing to us. So we did each month my mother, father, or myself and even sometimes all three of us would make a payment on my interest. This ranged from {$50.00} to {$300.00} each month. Jump to 5 years later and I was still in school but struggling after a health concern and hospital stay for myself and then my mother had a major XXXX and obviously could n't work after. That 's when I simply had to stop going to school because we could n't afford to pay out of pocket and we refused to take out anymore in loans then we had to. Thats when the calls from Sallie Mae started coming. Constantly to my mother and myself all day, starting from XXXX to XXXX at night. We thought maybe on weekends our phones and voicemails would get a break but we were wrong .... it was constant. At the time we had spoken to them and the amount we would have to pay monthly ( {$600.00} ) a month was more then what my parents who were struggling financially could do and myself who was working a minimum wage job. Not to mention that somehow our loan jumped from {$8000.00} to {$25000.00} ... ..when asked about this they simply told us " well that is the interest that was inquired over the years ''. My mom immediately questioned this because we were supposedly paying interest the whole time I was at school. They said they could n't find any payments for interest and it just was what it was. When asked if we could work out a payment plan the only option they gave us was forbearance, and we were told interest would still be applied. With that conversation I was angry upset and decided right then and there I was stuck in a hole and I did n't know how to get out but I refused to give them my account information that they had asked for payment over and over again. I did n't want them to have my account information and even more so after sending me threatening letters saying if I did n't pay they would take money out of my account for the full amount of the loan. My dad had sent them {$60.00} dollars so that they would hold off on legal action until we got everything sorted out. Then suddenly the calls stopped .... no word of anything and I seen that there was a lawsuit against them. No calls, no bills, no collection request nothing. But then I saw on my credit score that they still are effecting my credit and I am in collections with them for XXXX. But it has now been 6 months and I have not received any information, any calls saying I owe, no threats via voicemail, and just no knowledge if I still owe them or not. I am at a loss and I feel like my credit is awful because of them when it used to be almost perfect, I am constantly afraid that one day they will start calling again and I will have an even bigger financial struggle on my hands because the 6 months I had radio silence they were secretly adding more interest without my knowledge. I just want answers and a way out and I feel like I was not given that opportunity. When I first started I was given this story of {$8000.00} dollar loan that I could pay interest on and when I was out of school It would be down to nothing. That was n't the case at all and I refuse to pay so much interest when I was all along and it just " went missing '' if you could help at all this would be wonderful. Any information on this would be helpful because i 'm living in constant fear and depression of this and not thinking I will ever have a chance to fix this. Thank you.