Q: Ipad 2 sluggish after 8.1 upgrade

Wow! That seems to have fixed the slow Safari issues on my iPad Air. Now working great with 8 tabs open. Many thanks!

I had same exact problems w/ my ipad2.  The issues were resolved by backing up to iCloud and then doing a factory reset and restoring from iCloud. All app data including game progress are also restored in this process.

What you need to do is what many others have done, and that is to reset your iPad to factory default condition by using your iTunes program. And ... don't forget your backups.

Choosing an iOS Backup Method (Should I Use iTunes or iCloud to back up ...)

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT5262

Back up and Restore your iOS Device with iCloud or iTunes

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766

iTunes: About iOS Backups

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4946

iOS: Troubleshooting Encrypted Backups

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5162

Use iTunes to Restore your iOS Device to Factory Settings

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1414