Question about credit score and settlement

Hello, and thanks in advance for any information.

I'm wondering if anyone has had a successful Debt settlement without it killing their credit score.

Is it possible to settle with a creditor and in the settlement agreement have them remove any negative marks on your credit file?

What is this I hear about paying a creditor to remove a bad mark on your file, it that true?

I'm at the breaking point with my debt, but I'm trying hard not to destroy my credit score as well. At this point I am still current on all my debt, but each month my debt increases because we need to pay bills and day to day expenses with credit. Soon we will be out of luck.

I already have some of the best rates you can get (between 2.9 and 8.9%), so I'm not sure anything will be able to help except trying to settle.

Thank again,

Tom