I personally have only needed to perform circling approaches in anger a few times. Each time, I came to the opinion that unless the circling minima are near to VFR, they are an invitation to disorientation. (particularly at night) In fact, I only felt comfortable circling at familiar airfields.
Typically, the visibility is sufficiently limited that it is difficult to retain sight of the runway environment unless vigorous manoeuvring is employed. The latter is discomforting at low speed with a need to maintain instrument reference due to lack of a horizon while trying to keep contact with the airfield.
Circling minima, after all are such that obstacle clearance is maintained within a reasonable radius of the runway environment. One is never sure what "reasonable radius" really is, so one is motivated to keep it tight.
Mind you, all my circling experience was in jets and larger aircraft. It may be much more comfortable in a Cessna 172.
I would never push the limits for a circling approach. I would also carefully preplan my flight path before starting the approach, to reduce uncertainty in a relatively unstable and uncontrolled environment.