I've been slightly near sighted my whole life. recently, i noticed i cannot see as good close up like i used to. can you be both near and far sighted at the same time, and will i have to wear those thick and obvious glasses?

With increasing age the lens in the eye getter harder and that makes it harder to focus on nearby objects. This is presbyopia and affects almost all people. People who are not nearsighted need just reading glasses, those like you and me who are nearsighted need both our regular glasses and reading glasses. These can be combined on one lens in the eyeglasses.

At 44, you are likely presbyopic which is a normal, universal aging change. This is corrected with glasses or contact lenses.