My remote unpaired itself

I have done everything prescribed to remedy this issue. I have tried the unpair/pair method and resetting it by pulling the power cable. None of which resolved the issue. The light blinks 3 times, which according to Apple is suppose to tell me that it is paired with another remote but I don't have any other apple remotes. I can't restore it to factory settings because I can't navigate to the settings menu. I have no idea what to do because I'm stationed overseas and there isn't an Apple Store nearby for me to take it in to get looked at. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.