is this a common occurrence?

[MXMoondoggie]

You are correct. I do not have leeches yet to remove the poison stacks so i pretty much have to spam physik the whole fight. I've done it successfully about a dozen times since that awful experience however, so I'm feeling more confident again lol.

With a bit of creativity you can get through it. Heal through a few stacks and if they start getting ridiculous like 6-7 stacks you can use an antidote potion to remove it. You can target somebody and use potions on them so it's good to remove it with that halfway through the fight and take the pressure off.