@RJ, wow, I have been in the same situation that you are in now to many times! People like that are selfish jerks. They're emotional vampires. I'd try to make some new friends if I were you. Have you heard of meetup.com? It's free to join and I even found support groups on there that are free to join.

You need to set boundaries with those friends. If they keep this up, just straight up tell them nicely but firmly that you aren't happy with the way that they tend to go on and on about the same matters all the time, and yet when you need them to listen to you, they just don't seem to care about what you have to say.

If they end up never talking to you again, then to hell with them. As long as you're firm but nice, any decent person will end up trying to change how they treat you from that point onward. Sometimes people aren't aware of their bad behavior until you point it out to them.

For now, don't give them advice or listen to them. Don't return their calls or emails if they're only asking you for help of some kind. Ignore them. Then they'll know that you're no doormat.

You teach people how to treat you. Set firm boundaries and if they're crossed, remind them of that. Anyone who can't respect those boundaries should be gotten rid of as those kind of people aren't worth dealing with.