Ugh, that sucks. I feel for you.
My hair had some heat damage from all the years I straightened my hair. When I was in highschool, all I would do was straighten my hair because I didn't know what to do with it. (I would straighten my hair while it was damp and didn't use heat protectant either, which I regret.) My hair was down to my elbows.
Then, when I got into college, I had my hair cut to above my shoulders. (Where it was short, but long enough to put my hair up in a ponytail.) It looked healthier, because my ends weren't split anymore. It's been about two years since that hair cut and within those two years, I still cut off a total of about 6-8 inches myself.
Now, I only straighten my hair 1-2 times a week now as oppose to the 5 times a week in my highschool days. Some weeks, I go without using my flat iron.