being harrassed by creditors for credit card debt

What is the name of your state? North Carolina.
I owe around $6700 to 3 different companies. I have called and spoke with them over and over and what they ask is not possible due to the fact I don't work. I have been sending in what I can, sometimes large amounts.
Yet, they still call and still add more charges to my accounts. I would say 1/3 of my balance is just in fees.
They call here over 20 times a day. I have been not answering the phone. I have told them not to call, they keep calling. I even mentioned the Fair Debt Collections Pratice Act to them and they told me to lose the line (in those exact words)
Is there anything to protect me from the harrassment? And if I AM sending in little payments, do they still have the right to call and harrass me? Should I just let it go? It has ruined my credit already and I have no assets.
I want to pay this off but I can't get ahead with the $70+ in fees they charge me each month on all accounts.
Any help is greatly appreciated. And in case this is needed, I have 2 accounts with Providian who sold my accounts to First Performance, 1 account with Cross County and 1 account with Capital One. First Performance and Cross Country are the ones calling excessively during the day starting at 8AM and stopping at 9PM.
THANKS, Nicole

[bigun]

First preformance is a collection agency and is bound by the FDCPA. Send them a modified cease & desist letter saying the only acceptable contact is by mail. Send the letter CRRR. Cross Country and Cap 1 are orginal creditors and not bound by the FDCPA. They'll call all they like until they turn it over to a 3rd party.
If you can't get caught up, I'd suggest quit paying and see if they'll eventually offer a settlement.

[Ladynred]

OC's aren't bound by the FDCPA, but you can still send them a cease and desist letter, it apparently does work and they DO (in most cases) abide by them. Like the collection agency, limit them to mail only. OC's can be VERY nasty and they believe they can get away with murder.. and most often they do, because people don't do anything to make them stop. If you've got caller ID, just do NOT pick up the phone.. why waste the energy of talking to them and having to put up with their garbage when you can't catch up ?

North Carolina is a single-party consent state. Whenever they call, if you do in fact talk to them, RECORD. You don't have to tell them you are recording. They'll eventually say something illegal on the phone, and you can use the posession of that evidence as bagaining power when settling.
The best advice, of course, is to send the modified C&D bigun suggested. If they call after receiving that, then surely record each call. Note the time and date on each one. They'll then owe YOU money if they keep it up.