#4 - March 30, 2007, 4:53 a.m.
My guess that you're building too much threat before dropping it, and the totem isn't immediately able to generate enough to overcome the threat you've caused. It's generally used, as Kerin said, to distract other mobs when dealing with more than one.
Are you attempting to deal with higher level mobs and are hoping to get a breather in by using it?