Started 0.5mg of klonopin (clonazepam) for anxiety & mainly chronic motor tics. what kind of side effects can i expect from this med? & can it be taken long term?

Well tolerated : At this dose, you should not experience too many side effects. Usually, light sleepiness could hapen. It may slow down your reflexes so it's not a good idea to drive on it. If you have no hisotry of addiction and you take it only as needed, you may use it for a while. But the goal is to treat the anxiety to a point where you might not need the klonopin (clonazepam).

Not best long-term: Klonopin not usually the best long-term treatment for anxiety, at least not as initial choice. Zoloft (sertraline) is better choice for chronic anxiety. Klonopin could be used as-needed while waiting for zoloft (sertraline) to take effect-- other non-addictive medications could be tried first for the chronic motor tics. Klonopin is addictive if taken on regular basis; causes drowsiness; can cause depression long term.

Klonopin (clonazepam): I agree that Klonopin (clonazepam) is not the best medicine for long term therapy. It's most common side effect is sedation and drowsiness. It can also cause excessive drooling and is very additcting. There are alternative medicines for both anxiety and tics that might be good for you. However without doing a proper history and assessing other medicines that you may be taking i cannot make any suggestions.